A WereHunters Story: Remi's story
by DazedInReality
Summary: Remi Peltier is strong,aggressive,a fighter,everything a Katagaria male should be.But a near fatal accident brings him into contact with Lucille Renn.Quiet and unsure,Lucille is healing her own wounds.Can she be strong enough to heal Remi's?
1. Chapter 1

_Present day New Orleans_

Remi sat on the edge of the bed and lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag he run a hand through his hair. He looked down at the slim, white cylinder in between his fingers; he didn't know why he smoked. It did nothing for him, couldn't harm him so there was no real thrill like there would be for humans, who were putting their lives on the line with these things. He had no real feeling about them whatsoever; it just gave his hands something to do when they were otherwise unoccupied. Remi picked up the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and took a quick swig; it was a similar situation with human drink. The girl behind him groaned, and Remi blew out a sigh with a stream of smoke. Taking one last pull on it he stubbed it out on the ashtray on her bedside table and got up and started to dress. The song Crazy Bitch was blaring from her speakers in her living room and Remi wondered vaguely how she was sleeping through it. He bent to pick up his shirt.

"Are you leaving?" So she wasn't sleeping through it.

Remi flicked a quick look over his shoulder and saw that she was laying down, her body looking used and limp but her eyes were open. Remi didn't try to remember her name; he knew he wouldn't be able to.

"Yeah," was all he said before slipping the white t-shirt over his head and looked around the untidy room for his jacket. The girl got up her movements languid, partly from how much she had drank - Remi's were senses detected the copious amounts of alcohol and a dash of coke in her system as soon as he hit the club earlier that night - and mostly because of how well he had used her body. It had literally been the scratching of a biological itch, but even as Remi let his eyes look over the girl he felt contempt for her. No matter how much of a looker she was. And this girl was pretty, long platinum blond hair - dyed but what's real these days - huge breasts, pouty mouth, slim willowy body, and willing smile. Thick as a plank but then, with the exception of his mother and sister and Sera, most females were.

"I'm kinda sore at the moment," the girl announced and Remi grimaced with disgust, the girl took this as one of sympathy and nodded agreement. "Yeah, I know, you are really good in bed. Anyway, I could do something else for you if your still -"

The girl made to get upon her knees but Remi stepped away from her and the girl looked mildly confused, but then that could just be the effects of all the substances in her body. He spotted his jacket and picking it up, headed for the door.

"Am I gonna see you again?" she asked, sitting on the bed, Remi looked back at her, he stopped his lip curling in a sneer, he shook his head then headed straight out of the building.

Once out on the street that was a little cooler then inside her apartment, Remi thought longingly of his own bed. He had been edgy when he'd left Sanctuary earlier that night, or last night, Remi corrected himself, as it was nine o clock Friday night when he left and now four o clock Saturday morning. He'd been full of energy and frustration that he had taken out in a fight at the club he was at and on the human woman's body. Not that she had complained. And now he felt empty, drained. But not in a good way. Remi stood for a moment watching the dawn break among the clouds, the scent of the Mississippi was brought in on the morning breeze. Ah, home.

Nothing could compare to the mornings in New Orleans, he loved this city, loved its life. Sure, it was full of crime and it had its shadier side but when you were top of the food chain - when it came to humans so to speak - that shadier side was nothing. In fact a quarter of the Sanctuary business thrived on that darker side of existence. His life was one, long never ending party in the dark, it had been so for so many centuries that at times Remi wasn't sure where half of it had gone, he had no memories of endless droves of women, of money and luxury, all he had was the knowledge that it had been there and it was there now. Obviously there were the memories of his family, of happy times, of memorable fights even, but where was the rest? He should have accumulated more then family memories in the length of time he had been alive.

The way he figured was that he was just plain spoilt, very little mattered to him except his family first of all, then himself and this city. Everything else could get blown to hell for all Remi cared. But for someone who had lived in a life in the depths of night, whose family rarely roused during the day, Remi found it odd that he imprinted on his brain the pictures of sunrise. The sunrise over the Mississippi; over the buildings of the French Quarter; over the Brabo fountain and the Grand'Place in Brussels. He had vivid memories of so many.

Why had he so many memories of things as inconsequential as sunrise and not of his life, not of the parties and women? He needed something to change in his life, needed a mile stone to make him wake up from this void he was in and realise he was living and not just drifting. That the colour he saw were not dull and the women were not vacant, that life and passion all around him were real. He was stuck in a stupor and couldn't get out of it and Remi was afraid that more life would pass him by and he wouldn't comprehend how magnificent it all was.

The way he was taught was that things came in threes. Good luck, bad luck, change, it all came in threes.

One: was finding out that Aimee was messing around with a two bit wolf. Two: was Dev, Remi grinned, finding his mate. What was number three? Was the third his change? He hoped so; he truly, truly hoped so.

Breaking out of his thoughts, Remi was prepared to flash himself home when the scent of a foe drifted into his path, turning around Remi found himself cornered by four Arcadians; his mouth broke into an evil grin.

"You lost, girls?" Remi asked, his tone acidic. One of the Arcadians, the youngest Remi surmised, looked shiftily at the others. "Not going to answer?"

Remi chuckled, he could use a fight. Throwing off his jacket, Remi grinned malevolently, he gave a small, cocky movement with his hands; a signal of eagerness and taunting.

There was silence. No one moved. A slight shifting of the breeze ruffled the hair on Remi's head and neck. Suddenly the Arcadian's attacked in unison, running at Remi drawing knives from their pockets.

"Cowards!" Remi roared before shifting into his bear form, which was his base form and incidentally his strongest form. The massive strength of the Katagaria bear was phenomenal, he was ruthless and cruel in his fighting, his confidence in his ability to kick their asses back to Timbuktu was apparent in the way he moved. His expertise as a fighter was more daring than skilful, yet that could not detract from the obvious competence that Remi displayed.

One of the Arcadian's drew the knife down his back, laying open the skin, Remi felt the warm liquid of the blood from the wound then the actual pain, but the cowardice of the act caused his temper (that could go off like a roman candle) to fly into overdrive. Remi was blinded by rage and it sent him lunging forward at the Arcadian in front of him, the Arcadian side stepped the clumsily initiated attack and Remi bit the dust. The weight of someone on his back sent him bucking and fighting for all he was worth, knowing they had him in a very precarious fighting position.

"Hurry up, Rex!" a voice shouted from behind, Remi swung around and clamped his jaws on to the first thing he sensed in his presence. Someone screamed out and cursed, in the form of the bear Remi was grinning in satisfaction. He wrenched his head back and heard and felt the breaking of bones under his jaw and teeth.

"Let go, you son of a bitch!"

"Rex, move your ass!"

The hands that had been gripping and pulling his fur viciously, gave a final tug, when Remi refused to leg go of whatever guy he had at his mercy, he felt fingers dig into his back wound. Agony erupted through the injured area and down the rest of his back causing him to rear up in pain and roar. The roar was short lived. A suffocating pressure pressed on to his throat and he felt something snapping behind his head catching his fur painfully. On reflex a Were may have used magic but Remi was quick enough to register the danger of any magic near a metriazo collar, rather than panic Remi shrugged it off as a minor disadvantage. So adapt was he at fighting that he merely worked with the new tightness about his throat, he spun around and made ready to jump and tear into the nearest Arcadian, he had steadfastly refused to pick on the young weak looking one. Remi was the first one to admit he was a bastard, but the guy was weak and young, huddled away from the fighting. A sudden ache developed in his right thigh, Remi looked around to see a dart poking from his fur and in seconds, the world tilted out from underneath him, he thrashed his heavy paws at them trying desperately to escape, then everything went black.

*******************************

_One Year Later_

Lucille Renn paused before entering the deserted fun fair and eyed the place warily. In a few nights time the place would be saturated in the smells of cotton candy, popcorn and toffee apples. Garishly bright lights would be whirring so fast before your eyes they would make you just as dizzy as the thrill rides. Lucille always found the lights to be like that you would find atop of police cars. The sounds of teenagers, families and kids would mix until the screeches from girls would make your ears bleed and the puking from the boys would become common place behind the shouts of mothers and cries of babies. The carnival would commence the true start of summer in New Orleans.

As it was, the site was at the moment barren and chilling, it presented a foreboding sight against the backdrop of the early steel grey sky that chased after dawn and preceded the glory of gold skies. The Ferris wheel silhouette stood like some sort of mutant creature from space and the spinning cups waited dormant for their masters to make them move. It was a frightening thing to behold a place that is designed for noise and light and laughter should be so quiet and cold looking.

The owners and engineers of the carnival had intended for it to have a Romany Gypsy theme. Artificial caravans and wagons were set up, horseless though they wouldn't be at the carnival, to host fortune tellers, belly dancers, snake charmers and an assortment of other acts. It was unorthodox so it raised eyebrows; it was different so it drew attention and crowds.

Lucille shivered and hugged herself even though the night was humid, she was aware that walking through a deserted area of New Orleans was highly irregular for a young woman, not to mention dangerous. She feared the consequences of her actions. Her body had a heightened awareness of everything around her, every noise and sensation, but that was exactly what she wanted. It kept the dreams at bay. Putting herself on the line like this, risking life and limb and soul made her focus on staying alive rather then being caught in the dreams.

Lucille moved past one of the empty cages and heard a growling noise; she jumped and almost fell on her ass. A bear was in the cage. A fully fledged, real, live, shit in the woods bear was laying in the cage. Lucille moved a little closer, the bear cast a look of pure loathing before closing his eyes on her, she felt her heart clench. The poor thing was in terrible shape. It's fur was matted, dirty and congealed with blood from old and new wounds, white scars criss-crossed his muzzle and over one eye. The smell from the cage was a bad one, Lucille grimaced but chanced leaning closer so she could get a better look at the poor things condition and scowled. She despised this type of cruelty, to a defenceless animal that couldn't defend itself against the powers of a human; Lucille felt righteous indignation boil her insides. A great animal lover and a champion for the underdogs and victims, Lucille wanted nothing more then to find the man or woman who put this poor bear in this condition and beat the crap out of them, then slap a law suit on their asses. They had no idea! None of them!

To be beaten and abused and locked away in cage, how would they like it if someone did that to them, while they were unable to fight back.

Dark clouds swirled in her mind threatening to drag Lucille back into her world of nightmares, she closed her eyes tight and abruptly turned her head as if it were act of some sort of defiance, she would not give in to them.

The bear opened his eyes suddenly and cocked his head; his eyes were intense, looking at her strangely as if he could feel her anger, as if he knew the thoughts flashing through her mind. The dejected air of hopeless sadness and anger left him and for once he was alert. Lucille moved a little bit closer, feeling her skin rise with goose bumps at being near such an animal that could turn at any moment. And with good reason, how could the poor thing ever trust a human again after what he must have endured. Lucille squinted at a lovely silver collar around his neck, it was so tight the poor thing had cut himself trying to claw it off; Lucille raised a shaky hand and wrapped it around the cold iron bars of the cage.

"I know exactly how you feel," Lucille muttered, feeling a kinship with this animal more then she had with any other human being in the world and that included her three best friends. Tears fell unbidden down her cheeks, hot and fast, they drove tracks through her make up and fell with surprising weight on her wrist and to the dry ground. Wiping angrily at them Lucille drew in a determined breath and looked at the cage door, stepping up to it Lucille examined the pitiful lock and frowned. Surely they would need a better lock to cage and contain such a ferocious and powerful creature as the bear, and when Lucille thought about it the bear in that cage was uncommonly huge. A fervent animal lover like herself and obsessive animal planet viewer could recognise abnormally huge when she saw it, it gave her pause. Then she caught his eyes again and saw the raw pleading there, she shook off her misgivings and bent to the lock. A girl with her extensive education could without question break such an inadequate lock, Lucille listened intently for the telltale click, she heard it and paused, her breath quickening. Lucille gripped the door and flung it open, running away from it as she did, in case the bear was hungry for human meat.

When she had run a few yards and could not hear the heavy panting of a hungry bear, she looked back and saw the bear still sitting in the cage giving her a 'duh!' stare. Lucille hastened back still keeping vigil in case someone stumbled on her freeing the captive; she peeked in and the bear moved, as if on purpose, for her to see the long steel chain he was restrained by. Lucille growled a little, that explained the flimsy lock. Throwing caution into the winds and gathering courage from somewhere, Lucille stepped into the cage that was decorated from the outside to look like a gypsy wagon. The inside was small and far too cramped for such a large animal, her anger surged once more making her even bolder and more daring, the smell intensified enough to make her choke and her eyes water. Unsure of herself Lucille began to kneel slowly, as if to put her at her ease the bear slid down on its belly in a submissive position.

"You're really smart, aren't you?" Lucille muttered, reaching her shaky hands out so she could examine the chain, the bear didn't even wince but she felt as if he were urging her to move faster. The sky was beginning to turn gold and pink although it caused fear to make her jittery, Lucille could at least see the chain better.

"Okay, don't worry, Beau," she soothed, feeling around his neck for some way to unclasp it, it seem to run under the silver collar. "Everything is going to be fine."

Lucille tugged on the silver collar, the bear didn't wince, she tugged harder and the bear moved forward, Lucille knew instinctively it was only to give her more access to his neck. He recognised that she was no threat to him, that she was in fact there to help him and he appreciated it by not making her breakfast. Lucille found a deep groove cut into the collar, no doubt made by those unbelievably sharp claws, she worked on that part of it, feeling it give more and more, until finally with a crack, it broke from the bears neck and they both slumped with exhaustion.

The bear wasted little time getting up and starting for the door, before he did, however, he turned and licked her wrist where her tears had fallen and dried. Lucille smiled and run a not so steady hand over the bears back; he grunted and descended the steps in a slow, plodding way. On the ground he set off at a fast run that surprised Lucille, bears she had always expected to be clumsy, this one was agile as it made its way far from his prison. Lucille moved out of the cage and breathed deeply in the fresh air, her nightmares were at bay … for now.


	2. Chapter 2

(Hope you like this one. I know it might seem slow but I'm easing into this story, instead of rushing hadlong with it and messing it up.)

Remi lifted the keg of beer off the floor of the storage room behind the bar in Sanctuary. He turned swiftly as the door was an inch from closing and pushed the toe of his boot into the gap, catching the door he flicked his foot hard, sending the door crashing back and rebounding with a bang off the concrete wall. The excessive and utterly unnecessary noise did nothing to alleviate his bad mood and steadily rising temper. If anything it spiked his ire even more and rather then turn his anger inward he wanted to lash out at someone. Unfortunately the kitchen and bar staff knew not to come near Remi so it left his father to see what had caused such a racket.

"Remi, why are you making such a noise?" Aubert Peltier eyed his son sternly; Remi said nothing as he gripped the keg firmly and moved around his father. Aubert let him go and as soon as Remi had deposited the keg where it was needed he went to his room. Remi laid himself out on the bed with his hands stacked under his head and closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

It was better for everyone if he was out of the way, then no more episodes like the one just now could happen. And he wouldn't be forced into confrontations worse then that which he had come close to with his father just now.

It was disrespectful, he knew it. But after his capture and incarceration last year, the remnants of good in him, the part of him that could be controlled only by his family was dying. He didn't want to dig too deeply into why it had affected him so but then he didn't have to, Remi knew. The phenomenal confidence that he had once possessed had been left shaken slightly by his experience, not because he had come off worse in a fight, but what had happened after. The _metriazo _collar had kept him in animal form for a year and almost three months, in that form he hadn't sent out any psychic feelers for people to trace him. Remi had often wondered why he hadn't been tracked by scent. the fury at the thought that his family may have left him in that hell hole because they couldn't be bothered to track him down literally scolded his insides raw. He hadn't said anything about it for fear that his family would find out the extent to which he had suffered, not physically but mentally. The humiliation and degradation he had endured at the hands of the Arcadians and humans had scarred deeper then he wanted to admit.

Rather then talk about it with anyone, or answer questions, Remi had let it fester. The memory of it was there all the time, brooding and brewing away in a pot of emotions that sloshed over the rim on to people who stoked the fire too much. The pot hadn't as yet, fully over turned and spewed forth its terrible concoction of hate, anger, pain and the rest of the black emotions he felt, but it was close. Knowing his propensity for violence and his innate temper, Remi had locked himself away from people, his family saw it as a negative thing, but Remi knew he was saving them from himself and the violence within. And to be honest they were probably, deep down, glad for his uncharacteristic silence and mood of staying out of the way. Things probably flowed easier and people breathed freer without his threatening presence around.

Remi opened his eyes; he would not be able to sleep. He hadn't slept properly since he had come back, he hadn't eaten properly either, and he was meaner then ever. At night he thought of the humiliation and it made him so mad he wanted to rip the plaster from the walls with his bear hands, the damage done to his pride was irreparable and he could not live much longer without assuaging it. His need for vengeance was colossal, but if he stewed on it too long it caused tantrums and fits of temper that his family had begun to dread. So instead he thought of the woman and it was only then he had some semblance of peace in his troubled mind. Although he hated humans, especially those amateur gypsies that had abused him, he thought of her often. He conjured her up in his mind and the very image of her eased his troubled soul long enough to catch a few minutes rest. He had dealt his own justice to the operators of the carnival, slaughtering them had not eased him entirely but it had helped. For a while at least.

But that woman, she called him Beau so in his mind she became Belle, she had saved him. A mere, insignificant little human had been compassionate and brave enough to free him and for that he owed her his life. His honour dictated that he find her and guard her for the rest of her life, he was forever in her debt, and though it shocked him, he truly did not mind one bit.

The female that had saved him had been fascinating, her beauty, her sadness, her bravery, such a heart. And her soul! So instinctual and pure it radiated out of her like she were a beacon for ships in the storm. She drew him like a bear to honey, Remi grinned at the pun. It was the first time he had smiled since coming back home, she did that, she gave him that. Nameless woman of such valour, his Belle, he would willingly serve her for the rest of his life. Of course he would never say that to anyone, not even to the woman herself. The thought of people seeing him as being subservient to humans took him back to the gypsy wagon and back into the feelings of bitterness and hate. The moments of reprieve her face had given him had faded and he was cold once more. The thoughts of tracking her down were dust in the wind. He would never track her down because he couldn't find her and even if he could, he wouldn't. She had saved him, he honoured her for it, but that's as far as it would ever go.

Remi sighed into the darkness of the room and dissolved into his bear form before he could give in to the urge to release water from his eyes, the shedding of tears would only increase his sense of self-disgust and shame. He felt he had betrayed his Katagaria heritage and bear brothers for being so weak, how could he ever be an honoured Strati now, after this …

In the distance, beyond the window pane a wolf howled and Remi thought of Fang Kattalakis, the wolf that had stolen his sister's heart. After being attacked and nearly having his soul sucked out of him by daimons, Fang had been in a catatonic state for months, his eyes lost and wandering. Remi felt akin to the wolf in a way he had never done so before with another creature. Remi had once admonished the wolf in secret, thinking him weak for being unable to pull himself back from the effects of the attack. Now he understood completely. And if he had liked the wolf or been the type he might have talked to him about it now, but he wasn't and he wouldn't because he still had his pride left and that's all that mattered.

_Belle …_

********************************

Lucille stared for a long time at the doors of the bar across the street before walking towards it; outwardly she looked calm, perhaps a tad bit edgy if one looked closely. On the inside, however, she was whimpering pathetically. She hadn't had to go for an interview in over five years; her last interview had been for Baron & Baron, the law firm she had worked at since her graduation from college. She had never expected that she would need one again, never dreamed that she would one day be seeking employment for something other then being a lawyer. Lucille couldn't decide which was worse. The fact that she had been fired from her nice, comfy job that she expected to stay in until she was ready to retire; when she was nicely settled with a good pension and a partnership at Baron & Baron. Or the idea that she was applying for a job as a chief in the local biker bar?

A biker bar! Of all places! She hadn't worked in a bar since college. Not to say that she didn't like it, because she did. In fact Lucille would attribute losing a large portion of her shyness because of the demands of her bar job.

Lucille had worked at a nice, cosy café during the week, fitting her shifts around her school timetable. Then on weekends, rather then go out for the night with friends, drink too much and throw up all over her dorm room floor. Lucille had worked nights as bartender, chief and sometimes part time entertainment. Bobby, the owner of the club, which incidentally, was called Bobby's Lounge, would have paid her big bucks if she would have relented and become his paid singer, but Lucille still retained that modicum of shyness and insecurity that made her refuse even his most generous offers.

Lucille held back a groan and pretended that her heart wasn't aching at the memory of her firing and at the reality that she had now, once again, become a slave - erm, waitress …

All because she had let loose a bear - that by the way was being extremely ill treated, not that the head honcho's in charge cared about that - the idiot she was, she had left her finger prints everywhere and had been sued for every penny she had. She even had a police record now, which would go beside her other files …

Strangely, the only thing Lucille didn't hate or regret about the situation was the releasing of the bear. Liberating him had been a wonderful feeling, empowering. She hadn't felt like a victim helping him, she felt like a leader, like a pioneer, she felt powerful and good. Obviously she was missing some vital brain matter but that was how she felt about it, it was the only thing that made her smile in this whole dark, morbid mess. There had been no sightings of Beau the bear, even though his 'owners' had disappeared some time later, there was no news on either of them. Lucille often wondered if he had sought his revenge? If he had had the brain to think in those terms? It would have been very fitting to her mind, she had always been one for revenge. Just never brave enough to carry it out for herself. But then Beau's revenge would have been justice, so would her own. There was a difference.

Lucille crept into the cool interior of the bar, not surprised by how packed out it was - word was this bar was one of the hottest spots in town, not only for bikers but tourists and locals. The frightening notion that the whole bar would suddenly go dead silent when she walked in was quickly dispersed as the doors swung shut behind her. A few people glanced up at her, perhaps to see if she was the late friend they were waiting on, or simply to be noisy, either way as soon as they saw this ordinary, average looking woman, they soon became primarily interested in their drinks. Straightening her shoulders, Lucille moved lightly through the crowd, trying to make herself as small as possible. She plotted up in the darkest corner of the bar, which was still unfortunately, brightly lit up. A plain, slightly plump, middle aged man opposite her gave her a smile which she returned tenuously, she flicked her gaze to the busy bar staff, knowing out of the corner of her eye that the man was still staring at her. She chanced another quick look his way to confirm her suspicions - shit! He was not only staring but moving his stool closer; he stopped very close to her elbow which she tucked under the bar without looking at him. His relentless stare didn't make her nervous in a way that made her feel that he could do her harm, but simply nervous at being scrutinised so keenly by someone.

The whole right side profile felt exposed to his stare, it made that side of her feel cold and unpleasantly sensitive to the breeze that flowed over to her from the fan, while her left side facing away from him was becoming increasingly hot and twitchy. Unable to stand it anymore, Lucille turned her eyes on the man, who gave her a lecherous grin that showed yellowing teeth.

"Hi," he said in what he was sure was a smooth and suave voice. Lucille gave a pleasant nod, her lips pressing together tightly, having trouble meeting his confident stare. Men like this always worried her, men who were sure that the woman they approached were happy for their attentions, Lucille blew a strand of hair from her nose. Seeing a blur out the corner of her eye, she jerked back so quickly and violently that she nearly rolled backwards off the stool.

The guy held his hands up in mock surrender, and laughed deeply that caused Lucille to curl her lip at him.

"Sorry, Darlin'," he drawled, "just trying to help you with your hair."

Lucille perched her butt back on the stool, aware of the man's every movement in case she had to dodge his mitts again.

"If I wanted you to touch me, I would have given you a written invitation," she said with quiet dignity. She didn't like to be touched by people she didn't know, and people she didn't _allow _to touch her.

"C'mon now, you don't mean that, do you?" He said it in such a way that it made her insides clench sickeningly. The way a man might talk or coax a small child, Lucille took a deep breath, she wouldn't get hysterical. Not every man that came on to her way a complete fiend, a jerk maybe but usually no more then that. Still, she wanted nothing more then to sprint for the door; she was very good at sprinting …

If only she didn't need this job so much.

***************************

Remi lumbered his way down the stairs, his face was a dark and threatening, as he made his way to the bar. He had very nearly taken Kyle's head off when he had stood outside Remi's door arguing with Jasyn about who was going to knock and tell Remi they needed help in the kitchen. Remi run a hand through his hair, gripping the curls and pulling so hard it hurt, frustration and anger and so many other feelings he couldn't deal with swirled inside of him. He cursed his human half bitterly for allowing him to feel so deeply, with such intensity and complexity, he hated it! Being in bear form helped a little but not enough to block out his ever growing frustration, he had given an entirely new meaning to the phrase 'bear with a sore head'. There were times when the darkness of the emotion became so severe that he felt painful aches rise in his throat, and that would in turn double the sense of shame and anger that he felt. Remi would simply push it down and lock it away under ruthless restraints that he had built against this powerful thing called feeling. There was just no reprieve from this darn hurting.

The bar crowd had swelled in size since he had been in his room, which didn't really bother him too much as his family's attention would be fixed on the customers rather then him. Perhaps he could slip away for a few hours, perhaps pick a fight somewhere out of town, or sit in the cemetery until dawn. Remi scanned the bar and his eyes fell on an auburn man who sat serenely nursing a beer while his light brown eyes scanned around. The man's age was indefinable, even with the neatly trimmed auburn goatee he looked young yet old; his face had some what of an angelic quality. The guy gave Remi a lazy what's-up kind of smile before calling loudly over the music. Remi went cold when he heard the words.

"What?" Remi said, stepping forward so he could scent the guy out.

"I said you're built like a bear, man! Look at you!"

Remi breathed easy, he thought he'd seen the guy's lips form the words 'hey there, bear'. _Gods_, Remi groused mentally, _please don't tell me I'm becoming paranoid to?_

Remi was too relieved to sneer at the guy so he nodded instead to red-head's empty glass; the guy gave a slashing gesture near his neck to signal a decline for another drink.

"You must be pretty good with the ladies, huh?" red-head said again and Remi rolled a splendidly sexy eyebrow up, wondering vaguely if the guy was coming on to him, Remi was just about to rip into the man when he spoke again.

"Perhaps you could give me some tips," red head laughed and nodded in the direction of the opposite end of the bar. "I want to give her a try."

Remi automatically flicked his eyes to the corner and spotted the woman. Immediately his breath slammed out of him and he merely stared for one long moment. Delight, fear, panic and lust rocketed in a complex mix through his bloodstream, settling for once on delight. The happiness of seeing his Belle again had Remi in a state of euphoria, until he realised that she was upset, panicked bordering on terrified to be more precise. The fat ass sitting near her was edging into her personal space, crowding her, cornering her. Remi could smell her fear and perspiration, her adrenaline pumping, her shampoo and her body lotion. He could smell fat ass's sweat and smoke, his blood full of beer and the defective scent that told Remi the guy was diabetic.

Without a second thought, Remi marched towards them and moved out of the bar area to where his Belle sat. The guy reached out a chubby hand to set it on her slender knee, but before his clammy skin could make contact Remi held his wrist in a crushing grip that caused the guy to give a high pitched, piggy squeal of pain.

"What?" he cried out, fear clouding his eyes on seeing Remi, taking in his full length and width.

"You want this ass wipe near you?" Remi bit out at Lucille, even he registered that he sounded belligerent, but he could not help it. He was seething with rage; this man had no right to touch her. Lucille shook her head, caught between fascination of this person's masculine, sinful beauty and the aura of menace and violence he exuded. Remi leaned forward so the tips of his long, loose curls grazed the man's thighs, before speaking in a low, commanding, utterly chilling voice.

"Get. Out."

The jerk jumped from his seat and made a mad dash for the door, he was out in seconds, Remi watched until the door swung shut again and he turned his gaze back to her. Her eyes were wide with amazement, her mouth slightly open in shock at his height, it made him want to smile. He didn't, he simply studied her in turn. Lucille wanted to blink but the silly notion that this earth-shatteringly handsome man would disappear - which of course was utterly ridiculous, no man so strong and solid looking could possibly be a figment of the imagination. Lucille realised she was staring, she felt her face flush warm at the recognition of her rudeness, she cast her eyes away from him and cleared her throat before fixing them back on to his right shoulder. Perhaps if she had chanced a look up at his face she might have seen the warmth and amusement there.

"Thank you very much," Lucille murmured, wondering if her voice had been anything more then lip movement. He seemed to have heard her however for he inclined his head.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and Lucille's eyes shot to his, his tone suggested that it was not a mere curious question but implied that her appearance here shocked him.

Remi quickly realised his mistake and smoothed it over by clearing his throat and saying as casually as he could. "I've never seen you here before. And if you don't mind me saying so, Miss, you aren't the usual clientele."

His deep sexy half French, half New Orleans accent making her want to purr, Lucille gave him a shy smile that made his groin tighten.

"I'm actually here for an interview. Apparently they are hiring - why are you looking at me like that?"

Remi stepped back when he realised that he had his eyes were almost closed and he was swaying towards her. Her beautiful voice, thick with southern strength and charm was lulling him into a bliss that had eluded him his whole life, her scent was so soothing to him he felt as if someone had slipped him a sedative. Snapping back to attention, he refocused on her words.

"Where did you hear we were taking on people?"

_We? _"Do you work here?"

Remi gave a half hearted shrug that she took for assent. "So your not hiring?"

Remi hesitated then gave a shake of his head that was a little indecipherable, Lucille made a noise of aggravation.

"Are you just fooling with me? Do you really work here?"

Remi nearly grinned at her spurt of temper, though when he considered his own hers wasn't even a ripple in the breeze next to his hurricane.

"Yeah, I do. But like I said, we ain't hiring."

Lucille wanted to let her shoulders sag with disappointment, as much as it stuck in her craw she was reduced to witnessing again, she desperately needed the money. Even her crumby little apartment, horrid and decaying though it was, needed to have the rent paid, plus additional utility bills. The few months of being out of work had depleted her savings terribly. Lucille became aware after a moment that the man was watching her carefully, studying her features intently the way the jerky guy at the bar had done. Though this didn't make her uncomfortable or make her feel threatened, in fact it flattered her as there was no mistaking the look in this man's eyes for what it was - unbelievable though it seemed to Lucille - attraction and a healthy dose of lust and … something more. Affection perhaps? But that was stupid, she didn't know him, though she hadn't pegged him for the friendly, help your neighbour kind of guy. Her basic instinct usually kept her contact with men very brief unless it was in a court room, then professionalism took over, with this man however Lucille could not help but feel a warm vibe of protectiveness vibrating from him towards her. She knew he would not even consider harming her.

"What's your name?" Remi asked, his heart thudded uncomfortably in his chest, never in his life had a woman produced such an attraction in him.

"Lucille."

"Lucille," Remi drawled out, letting the word wash over his tongue like a fine wine. One word, a simple noun, had his blood pumping rapidly through his system, hardening his groin to iron.

"I'm Remi Peltier, my family own this bar," Remi introduced himself, he swept his hand out in front of him in an uncharacteristic show of gentlemanly gallantry. "Come with me, Belle, and we'll see what we can do for you."

Remi saw her hesitate briefly and he got the feeling it wasn't through fear.

"Please, don't feel that you have to do this," she mumbled shyly, perhaps she thought it was charity, Remi wasn't sure how to set her mind at rest.

"I don't," he said sharply and instantly regretted it as her eyes widened slightly, "I'm only trying to give you a chance, you haven't got the job yet."

Remi watched with relish and fascination as she bristled abruptly and straightened her shoulders. Lucille's eyebrows drew down and she struggled not to feel offended, something about what he said and the way he said it set her ire off big time. Lucille had never been under any illusions of her capabilities, she was a wimp, a big time coward, hid her many insecurities behind the kick ass lawyer façade she had always had and was emotionally fractured from her past. In a few short sentences those were her major faults and flaws laid bare, but Lucille was and had always been - barring the emancipation of a certain bear - a perfectionist professional. She was proud of her ability to walk into a court room and have her voice heard in a way she could not make it heard in her own life. That was where her self-confidence lay, never had she ever been refused a job she had gone after and this wouldn't be a first, especially as it was for a pathetic chiefs placement.

"Lead the way," she said clearly and Remi gave her a quick grin that instantly sent butterflies crowding in her stomach.

Remi wasn't sure what he was doing, or how he was going to explain to his maman that he'd hired another worker. Truth of the matter was deep down he didn't give a shit. He wanted, no _needed_, to do something, anything that want help this woman. If giving her a job could even half pay back what she had done for him then so be it, it wasn't enough by far but it was a start. This woman had rescued him from hell, the least he could do was offer her a job. Remi led her out the back of the bar, he caught Justin's blatantly curious gaze and growled at him. Justin stiffened and his eyes narrowed on Remi who was holding open a door for Lucille to walk through. Lucille recognised tension and sped quickly under Remi's arm and through the doorway.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" Remi snarled and Justin was about to say something when Colt came up beside him.

"Justin, Dev and Sera need some help at the door," Colt said briskly, Justin threw down the towel he was using and sending Remi a filthy look moved out of the bar area, Colt turned to Remi. "Cool it down. We don't want no trouble tonight."

"Why is it special?"

Colt rubbed his eyebrow tiredly. "You know what I mean, Remi. Just …"

Colt trailed off when he noticed Lucille staring avidly at him from under Remi's arm, he quirked a curious eyebrow but said nothing. Remi looked back at Lucille and his face hardened, he didn't like her looking at Colt that way and he hadn't liked the way the damn panther had looked at her either. In fact he'd wanted to rip the bastard's head off.

"Keep your fucking eyes in your head!" Remi hissed advancing a step towards the Arcadian bear. Colt was not a coward, Remi knew this for a fact but he also was not stupid, and stepping back with his arms raised in mock surrender was not a sign of fear or weakness from him. Remi realised with a certain feeling of dread that the human bear was seeing a whole lot more then he should.

"Dev don't want help," Justin returned, just as Lucille stepped up to Remi, without thinking she placed a hand on his bicep to get his attention.

"I can come back another time if this is inconvenient?"

Remi looked down at her, making no moves to shrug off her touch, he wanted to pick up the small hand and nuzzle it. Hold it in his while he led her up the stairs to his bed … Remi jerked back from her. _He was such a bastard! _

He would never take her to his bed, she was worth so much more then that. Deserved so much more then what he could give her, then what _he_ was worth.

"No," Remi said, his throat dry. "Follow me and I'll take you to someone who deals with all this shit."

For some reason swearing in front of her made him almost blush, she shouldn't have to hear such crudity.

"Perhaps I can help you?" Justin said immediately with a smirk, Colt groaned with his hand going over his eyes, he knew what was coming. Remi turned with a ferocious growl and sent his huge fist into Justin's face, Lucille jumped back with a cry of shock and fright. The guy was insane! He was a schizophrenic! Lucille had primarily been quite drawn to this Remi's moody persona and devilishly good looks but he seemed to go ballistic at the drop of a pin. Lucille edged away and bumped into the chest of someone. Looking up there were two more Remi's behind her and when she turned with a gasp another was swinging his legs over the bar. All three Remi doppelgangers latched on to a body part of the two fighting men and heaved. Making noises like that of cats in the wild and ferocious growls, they were pulled apart, each bloody and looking distinctly worse for wear. Remi wrenched free of what was obviously his twin and growled, his lip was bleeding and his long hair was wild around his face, he was favouring one side slightly as if he had a few bad jabs to the ribs.

The black haired man whom Remi was fighting, Justin, Lucille recalled his name, had a black eye already swelling shut, his lip and nose were bleeding and there were vicious cuts along his face and neck as if made by animal claws. The lawyer in her saw a law suit and compensation, the native New Orleans girl saw that this fight would not be heard of outside this bar. There would be no law suit here, no filing for damages, this was the nitty-gritty life that she thought she had left behind for good. Feeling suddenly very tired Lucille slipped behind the men and made a beeline for the door, throwing it open and sucking in the fresher air, she almost made it two steps down the street when a hand clasped her arm. Lucille turned with a gasp and saw Remi, his long gold curls were tossed messily to one side, so it obscured the redness of his cheek and eye. Her heart melted unwillingly, he was probably unhinged and dangerous yet the way he looked at her with such … longing? She couldn't just walked away from him. Lucille didn't know why she felt like this, perhaps she was just lonely, well she was definitely lonely but she didn't want to analyse _that _too much anyway. Raising a hand she brushed his curls from his face, she stiffened when he stepped forward abruptly. So close that his hair was touching her face, his breath warm against her skin, the fabric of his t-shirt stretched over his huge chest rubbed against her shirt each time they breathed.

Lucille felt trapped and yet at the same time freed, a whirlwind of emotions and feelings, from longing to fear went through her. She wasn't sure what to do, she shifted her footing and the toe of her shoe hit the toe of Remi's scuffed boot, Remi reached out and pulled her forward. Snaking his large paw like hand around her waist with exquisite gentleness, he yanked her flush with his body, he was going to kiss her! She was sure of it. Why else would he look so intently down into her face? Why would his eyes go back and forth between her own in such a searching way? It gave her a jolt of complete shock when he simply wrapped his arms around her and urged her head upon his chest. He lay his head over hers, stroking a soothing hand down her back. Why an act from a complete stranger her should soothe her in such a profound way she had no idea, but Lucille recognised that she reacted to it deeply, and stayed willingly in his warm embrace.

"I'm sorry, Belle," he whispered, Lucille pulled back and gave him a smile.

"Its okay, really it is," she exhaled and removed herself from his arms, shivering at the loss of warmth. Remi rubbed his bare forearm as though he too were experiencing chills. Lucille smiled shyly once more when they looked at each other, she glanced away from him at her feet. Remi reached out and took her face in his hands, smoothing a thumb over her eyebrow.

"Who protects you, Lucille?" He asked thoughtfully, as though to himself. What a strange question. Lucille shrugged.

"Myself?"

The side of his mouth quirked up, he looked genuinely amused. "I believe you are right."

Lucille paused at his tone. "Does that disappoint you?"

"It fascinates me and saddens me too." Remi let his hands drop away from her face and Lucille had the insane urge to clutch them to where they were, the loss of heat and connection was unbearable.

"If you worked here, we would protect you."

Lucille didn't know why her throat felt tight but she fought against the feeling for all she was worth.

"I don't need protecting."

Remi would have liked to argue but with this woman he found a restraint he didn't know he had, all he knew was that he wanted to protect her. Taking a deep breath he consciously lightened his face.

"You still want the job?"

Lucille smiled, relieved that tense moment passing between them had gone, she nodded and followed him back to the bar.


	3. Chapter 3

**(Note: Although Remi is, as we know, the original bad boy and hard ass, when it comes to Lucille he's got a soft spot. This for all those people that will tell me that its out of character for Remi to be so sweet.)**

Lucille flipped burgers, chopped salad and watched the fries hit the boiling oil without breaking a sweat. There were some skills you just didn't lose in life and for Lucille, flipping a good burger apparently had stayed with her even through her lawyer years. She might as well get used to it, she thought sourly digging rather forcefully at the meat, no firm in the state would touch her with a barge pole.

"Sorry, sorry," Jadine came rushing back in straightening her white cap, the pretty African-American woman took a deep breath before moving to take over her space at the burgers.

"It's okay, can't be helped," Lucille said, arranging the salad on the plate and applying a dressing. Jadine placed a hand on her very pregnant stomach and smiled.

"I'm going make sure this baby knows what he put his mama through!" she smiled fondly down at the rounded tummy and patted gently. She looked up to see Lucille smiling at her.

"Puking aside, you love it," Lucille said.

"Oh, I know. I can't wait to be a mama."

"How's your boyfriend dealing with it?"

"Husband," Jadine corrected before answering. "That fool! He couldn't be happier, all he talks about is teaching him to play football and all sorts of things. I'm putting away some money for a trust fund thing -"

Jadine put the fries and burger on the plate next to the salad, sneaking one of the fries into her mouth. Lucille smiled and sent the plate out to one of the waitresses, that was the last order for now but to be safe, she started preparing her station in case someone put in a late order.

"You know for college. I want him to be a lawyer or something, a doctor maybe. He won't be working as no busboy. No construction like his daddy, unless he owns the company. No chef like his mama, unless it is gourmet five star restaurant."

Lucille let Jadine ramble on, the woman liked to talk and Lucille liked to listen to her. Jadine was an open friendly sort, she had a ready smile and despite the scatter-brained air she projected, Lucille sensed a astute and sensitive woman in her new found buddy.

"You got any kids?"

Lucille, who had fallen into a daydream with Jadine's idle chatter as a background lullaby, jerked back to the present.

"Say what?"

"You got kids?"

"Oh, no," Lucille assured her hastily, she gave a awkward grimace that most people who avoided children and the subject of them entirely gave. It was effective and threw Jadine off the scent. To talk of children was far too painful for Lucille. So she preferred to tell people she didn't want them rather than admit the truth.

"So where your people from?" Jadine asked absently, while looking for a forgotten packet of peanuts.

"All over," Lucille said before she could stop herself and when Jadine raised an inquisitive eyebrow, Lucille corrected herself. "All over New Orleans, I mean."

Jadine nodded then jumped at the deep, harsh voice behind her.

"Hey! Another order came through!"

Lucille couldn't stop the deep thrill that went through her when she recognised the voice, she looked up and saw Remi. She knew it was him and not one of his brothers, and that in itself was strange, when those who had known him much longer still found it hard to tell them apart.

Perhaps it was because in the few days she'd worked here she'd noticed that the man was forever in black from head to toe?

Lucille tried to make that the excuse for why she could spot this man in a room, crowded by his doubles, just by his scent alone.

But that wasn't the truth. She was so attuned to him it was scary. She knew it was him by a deepening in his eyes when he looked at her, he had rarely spoken to her since she had started work here, but they locked eyes frequently. The deep, pleasant amber of his eyes swirled molten gold when they were upon her, his gaze was always intense and full of unspoken secrets.

Remi inclined his head to Lucille and she shot him a shy smile that caused his whole body to tighten, his skin blossomed with sweat and he knew he had to run away from her. Either that or take her down on the floor where she stood. The latter wasn't right, and it wasn't fair, and he promised himself he would not do that to her. She was not like the usual women Remi encountered on a daily basis, she wasn't about to spread her legs for just any man she met. She was wholesome and innocent and entirely pure, he was sure of it. He wasn't about to change that and mar her perfection. Remi felt like an idiot as he dallied at the door holding it open and staring at Lucille, she had gone back to her work. Her slender shoulders hunched slightly as she prepared the food, her slim, efficient fingers agilely wielding a knife and slicing through the flesh of the tomatoes. She looked up again and saw Remi staring at her, a faint blush stole over her face, Remi felt his groin jerk painfully and the hand that held the door open trembled. He quickly removed himself from the kitchen and temptation and made his way into the store room at the back.

Leaning against the wall, Remi closed his eyes and breathed deeply, calmly, trying to placate the feral cravings of the bear and to slow the pounding of his heart. Opening his eyes, Remi watched as Colt and a lovely blond in a pair of tight shorts walked past the open door and into the room across the hallway. It was a room Serre, his three twin brothers and himself had padded out when they wanted to have a bit of fun with one of the willing women at the bar. Remi looked down at his obvious erection punching through the material of his pants, it throbbed and he rubbed the heel of his palm against it to assuage the ache. He had not had sex since the night he had been held captive by the Arcadians. It was deeply disturbing to him and rather shocking to Remi, he had always had a very high sex drive, needing a release at least once every night and that was a bare minimum.

Yet since his return he had little interest in sex with willing, doped up strangers, Remi would not go so far as to say that the memory of Lucille had kept him as chaste as a saint but she was definitely a component in the complex mix.

The last time Remi had tried to do something with a woman, he had bulked when she had tried to touch him, he'd relaxed well enough then her hand had slipped over the scars near his neck and he had backed away from her as if she had the plague. To make it even worse when he realised how small the padded room was he nearly flipped, the confining space dragged up memories of cages and he was done in. Unable to bear the humiliation a moment longer, Remi had used his powers to make her forget him and walked out of the bar, preparing to spend the night alone.

Now however, his body was alight, his sex like a hot, iron bar between his legs, the muscles of his shoulders and neck tensed and aching as he tried to beat down the longing and the lust.

"Remi?"

Remi did not open his eyes when the lilting French accent reached his ears, instead he fought the desire to groan, his mother was the last person he wanted to see while his body was so jacked up on lust and his heart had the jones for Lucille.

"Yes, maman?"

"Remi, why are you in here alone?"

His mother moved further into the room and Remi straightened from the wall. He fought the feeling that he was being stalked and cornered and worked on calming himself.

"I was looking for -"

"Don't lie to me!" she snapped and Remi bit the inside of his cheek to keep his retort to himself. Mama Lo's eyes softened and she approached him, cupping his cheek. "Tell me, Cher, what eats at you so?"

"Nothing maman."

Still Nicolette's eyes bored into his and Remi felt the truth trembling on his lips, he desperately wanted to let them free but instead he tightened his mouth into a thin line and moved away from that out stretched hand. Someone muffled a curse outside the door and Remi saw a feminine shadow retreat quickly, Remi left his mother in a second, not caring that she was worried about him. He reached the door and saw Lucille backing away. She flushed when she saw him.

"I wasn't snooping," she protested quickly, Remi felt a smile twitch at his mouth muscles, "I just had to fetch something from the store room."

"I know you weren't," he said kindly, he flicked his gaze to the clock, then back to her. "Want to take an early lunch with me?"

Lucille stared dumbly for about five seconds before shaking her head, she saw the light in his eyes flatten and realised what must be going through his mind. "No, no! I mean, yes I would. I'd like to go out with you. To lunch!" she added quickly, feeling more flustered by the second. "To lunch - would be nice, but my break isn't for another hour yet."

She stopped feeling nine kinds of stupid and her face aflame, closing her eyes and drawing in a deep breath and Lucille finally found her calm. She looked up at Remi who was watching her with a raised eyebrow, she cleared her throat primly before speaking.

"If you would like to go to lunch with me and you don't mind waiting, I get off in an hour."

She let out a small phew and felt relief as if she had just given a successful speech in front of the president.

Remi's cocked eyebrow rose higher and he nodded. "Why can't you just take an early one?"

"Because this is my job and I will only get paid for the time that I work."

"Well, I'll pay you whatever you lose and make up your wages," Remi said nonchalantly, recognising, as he said it, that he was blowing to hell all his well- intentioned plans of keeping a polite distance from Lucille. He also recognised that he sounded pathetically desperate for her company, but then nobody was around to see. Immediately Lucille's chin flew up defiantly.

"You will not!" she said firmly, her pride thoroughly put out of joint.

All her life she had worked for what she had, what would people think of her if she took early breaks, so she could have lunch with the boss and still get full pay? It was an insult to Tony, who worked his ass to the ground so he could support himself through college, the way she had done many moons ago. It was an offence to Jadine, who was working her fingers to the bone so her son wanted for nothing when he came into the world. And more then that she, Lucille, didn't like the fact that he thought she would accept money for spending time with him.

"I can do what I like," Remi snapped back, his eyes flashing dangerously. Lucille was not unnerved by his dark menacing looks, she was perversely thrilled by him, for all his danger she never sensed any threat towards her person. And that was the biggest surprise of all. In social situations she was a wimp, and she suspected the worst of everyone, her faith in humanity had been shaken a long time ago and consequently her social life had suffered. So Lucille, suspecting that deep down, Remi was looking for someone to vent on, moved herself out of the line of fire.

"Yes, you can, but I'd like to think you'd take my feelings into consideration here."

She saw with relief that he was taken aback and a little ill at ease.

"I'm asking you to lunch," Remi said, looking confused and irritated, "not forcing you to fight the battle of the fucking Somme."

His insides withered instantly when she mildly flinched at his tone, he hated himself for his uncouth ways, wished he wasn't crude and didn't swear. Wished he could charm her without feeling like an asshole.

"I'm didn't mean -" he began but Lucille gently cut him over.

"That's okay," she said with a small smile. "What I mean is, I want to work for what I get, I don't want people to think I'm free loading. You've been so kind to me."

Remi looked away from her, feeling like a shit head, plus there was a sinking feeling in his stomach, because she only wanted to be around him because he had given her a job. Just freakin' great!

"And I don't want you to think that I'm having lunch with you simply because your paying me to. If we're going to have lunch its because I want to be in your company."

Remi's eyes flicked back to her face quickly, Lucille saw that the light hadn't just returned but had blazed behind his eyes. Lucille couldn't help being pleased by knowing that he wanted her, wanted her enough to pursue her. No man had ever done so before.

Remi's mouth quirked and he nodded, rubbing a hand over eyes before letting out a self-deprecating laugh.

"I guess I'll see you in an hour then?"

"I'd like that," Lucille responded with a nod of the head, that even though she tried to make casual and nonchalant, looked shy and unsure. Remi gave her one of his own, which looked sultry and seductive. Lucille felt like she were standing a top of a furnace, her whole body was engulfed in a tremendous heat that started from her stomach and fanned rapidly through her veins. It became even worse when, as she was about to make her retreat back to the kitchen where she could cool down, Remi reached out and plucked her hand from where she had it placed firmly, palm against the wall. He bent low over it and gave her a dark, promising look through from under his lashes, Lucille inwardly cringed when she realised her skin probably smelt of onions, tomatoes and lettuce. Remi didn't seem to notice for when his smooth lips touch the back of her hand, he gave an appreciative moan that was just audible yet Lucille felt her stomach and heart rocket upwards a few inches. The sensation became even stronger because she could have sworn she felt his wet tongue lightly against her skin. As if it had slipped out accidentally from between his lips.

Remi let go of her hand and Lucille, truly not sure of what to do, merely smiled and scampered back to the kitchen. Remi whistled a low appreciative noise through his teeth before turning in the opposite direction, completely forgetting that his mother was in the store room, and unaware that she had likely seen the entire exchange between Lucille and himself.

****************************************

Mama Lo moved to the threshold of the store room and leaned against the door frame, she pursed her lips thoughtfully. She hadn't liked what she had seen between her son and the new kitchen worker, it wasn't right. Remi was not right. He was the most complex of all her children, Nicolette had always acknowledged that, his temper and need to fight was legend, even as a cub. As a fully matured bear life with Remi around had always been difficult, but still no boy could be loved more by their mother then Remi was by his. She defended him many times, too many some might say, against even his own family. Since his sudden reappearance a few months ago it had grown steadily worse, unlike before, his temper which had always been at the forefront and likely to be unleashed on anyone, was now restrained on a crumbling chain, tenuous and feeble, it held Remi in check long enough to let his temper reach monstrous highs. And when spewed forth was more terrible then ever before. He had always been short tempered, quick to anger and aggressive, but his reappearance back at Sanctuary put the refuge on a constant state of anxiety when he was present. Now there actually seemed to be a cause behind his terrible rage and what was more, and it cut Nicolette to her very core when she thought about it, now there seemed to be pain enveloped in his wrath.

Lo scented the air and looked over her shoulder to see Colt coming up behind her, she was about to greet him when she noted the seriousness upon his face, he halted before her and gave her a stern look.

"Colton, had I not raised you since a babe, I would think you had come here to reprimand me," she said a deadly sweet voice. Despite his being Arcadian, Colt was the only cub to come to the Sanctuary that Mama Lo ever adopted, he was such a good and caring boy. An asset to a family that were too in touch with their animal sides.

"I am," he said defiantly. And Mama Lo tried to keep her lips from twitching. What a day it was when your own children tell you off for your transgressions. "I see that look in your eye, Mama. I know it for what it is. Do. Not. Mess. With. Remi."

"I have no idea what you mean," Mama Lo said dismissively and tried to move around Colt, who moved with her, his bulky, masculine frame blocking her escape.

"I mean it, Mama," he said sternly, "I've seen the way Remi looks at this girl -"

"Yes and its not normal," Nicolette hissed. "She's human!"

"She's his saving grace!" Colt snapped, and Nicolette was silenced. When Remi had disappeared for that year, as hard as it was for Nicolette to admit, no one suffered very much. No one except for Cherif, Dev and Quinn naturally, as he was one fourth of their quartet since birth and therefore, to them, like a whole body suddenly missing a limb.

And Colt. No one other then Mama and Papa bear had understood Colt's need to have Remi back. The boy loved every inch of his family, the good, the bad and the ugly were his. For a baby who had his father taken from him by Katagaria and then his mother taken by him because the fates had cursed them with the rituals of the mating law, to have another so close to him taken away made him feel vulnerable, exposed. Ever since his childhood, his adopted brothers had surrounded him like a wall from the threat of other Katagaria who might hurt him, until he was old enough to fight his corner. Mama had been worried that Colt might also go missing in search for his brother, if Remi if he had not come back when he did.

Only those four had felt lost and out of sorts with one of their own being so far away and unprotected by their clan. Even Nicolette had not been as nervous as she should have been, though she refused to admit it to herself. It was only when Remi returned that Nicolette saw that there had been cause to worry. Something had happened to him and Nicolette would forever feel guilty that she had not protected her son, or at least looked for him. As soon as he had returned Colt had watched Remi like a hawk, and it seems that the Arcadian saw many things that Nicolette was blind to.

"Don't interfere in this, Mama, do not!" Colt continued, "I fear that if you do, we will lose Remi entirely. You've seen how distant and menacing he is lately, she anchors him. You see how watches her, when he thinks no one is around. Artemis save us, he nearly tore Max's arm off for looking at her too long!"

"Exactly!" Nicolette snapped, "she makes him volatile!"

"He's always been volatile!" Colt pacified her by gentling his tone, "now he is down right unstable and dangerous. Whatever happened to him has changed him."

Nicolette looked away before her eyes misted up.

"Mama, he deserves this woman if he wants her."

"Colton, you are talking like a fool. You talk as if they were mates! Bah! She is human, in case you have forgotten!"

"In case you've forgotten, its not impossible to mate with humans if your Katagaria. Its just improbable."

With a smug look at Nicolette, Colt retuned to the bar and left Nicolette to fume silently on her own, she hated being bested by anyone. Even family.

************************************

Remi tore his eyes away from the clock as soon as it hit one hour and made his way to the kitchen, grunting to Colt and Dev that he was taking a break. He almost reached the kitchen when he realised his palms were sweaty and his heart was beating faster then normal, he made a hasty exit into the first room he came to, the padded room.

Remi cringed at being in there, then at himself for being such a wimp. He was acting like a meek, disgusting human! Where was his swagger and control? His booming confidence that defied anyone to say they could do it better then he could? Remi gave a bitter laugh, it was back with the bear that had carelessly walked out after banging a woman, thinking no one in the world could take him on and he'd ended up like this. He was completely pathetic, disgustingly so. But thank the Gods, only to himself. As far as his family and the rest of the smut at Sanctuary was concerned he was still the meanest shit they had ever met in their long, hard lives. And to Remi that was all that mattered.

No mere human woman would cause him to question his abilities, he would take her to lunch and perhaps being in her company a while might kill the fascination he had for her. She was just human, nothing special, and he would prove it to her and himself ….

Anyone who might have witnessed Remi leaving the padded room would have seen a man, more beast then human, bowling his way down a corridor, arrogant enough to know those before him would part in his wake. The majestic animalistic quality about him was so recognisable in his demeanour, that as he rounded the corner and came into the kitchen, Jadine almost dropped the plate she was carrying. She even gave a small shriek and a lettuce leaf fluttered to the floor, Remi cut her a glare and moved slowly past her, letting his eyes roam. His smooth gait was as sexy as it was frightening and when he approached Lucille, she had the distinct impression that she was being stalked. On turning she met his eyes and her instinct kicked in to run and hide from the menacing predator that was before her.

"Are you ready?" Remi's face was hard even when his voice was mild, bordering on bored. Lucille cleared her throat, determined not repeat the stuttering scene of earlier. Jadine approached, her pretty eyes watching Remi's back warily.

"If you'd just give me a minute?" Lucille said, hoping her voice didn't sound as pathetically girlish as she thought it did. "I just need to finish this for Jadine before I can take off."

Jadine blanched and shook her head furiously behind Remi's back, looking as if she wanted to kill Lucille and be killed all at the same time when Remi turned cold eyes on her.

"You can handle it, can't you?" Again that chilly voice that so surprised Lucille, its tone was nearing distaste. She had heard rumours of this man, of his temper and cruel nature, it was at odds with the person that spoke to her so quietly when they were together, someone who would kindly help out a stranger.

"Yes, sir," Jadine said immediately, but Lucille cut her over before she could stop herself.

"No, she can't. I only have literally five more things to do. Surely you can wait for me for two minutes?" She looked at Remi hopefully, who shrugged and turned his back and waited outside the kitchens back doors. Jadine watched and waited for him to exit before turning and giving Lucille a swift punch in the arm.

"Ow!" Lucille rubbed her arm and sent Jadine a frown, "what?"

"Do not what me, my sister!" Jadine threw a frightened glance to the doors, "when that man tells you to go, you go! Do not make me your excuse!"

"I didn't! You need help, I'm helping you. Not that I will anymore!"

"Good!" Jadine remarked again looking to the door. "Baby girl, that man is the devil incarnate. Please don't get yourself mixed up with him."

Lucile rolled her eyes. "Jadine, what have your cravings had you eating that could possibly make you hallucinate?"

Jadine grew stone cold serious, her eyes as sombre as a mourner. "This is the only piece of advice I will give you. Stay away from that man. He's an animal -" Lucille was shocked at the kind-hearted Jadine's description of her fellow man. "Honestly, baby, I am not joking. He is out of your league in everyway."

"Hey!" Lucille couldn't help but feel slightly offended by that, but Jadine waved a dismissing hand.

"He's not right, not right at all. You need to understand that, really understand that before you take it any further with him. You know he disappeared for over a year without word or sign to his family. He only just got back. And to make it worse he comes back with scars on his body and an attitude that would give an ogre pause and muttering curses that would make the devil blush!"

Lucille did not understand, just simply could not get her head around it. She tried not to judge people on the judgements of others, but Jadine didn't seem the type to spread malicious slander for the fun of it.

"He was very kind to me," Lucille murmured softly looking towards the door Remi stood behind.

"Ask yourself why," Jadine gave Lucille a cocky, knowing look before sauntering off as fast as her ripened belly would allow. Lucille ripped off her white cap and walked dolefully towards the doors, it was well time for her lunch break … with Remi.


	4. Chapter 4

Remi tried not to feel so upset by what he'd heard the women say about him, damn he was used to hearing all sorts about himself, in worse language too. Why this stung so much, he didn't care to think to heavily on it. Remi looked down at Lucille who was walking beside him in the sunshine, hugging herself as if she were cold, she looked down to her feet, studying the concrete beneath her. They both came to an uncertain stop at the same time in front of a nondescript café, with tiny tables on a pretty patio. Still uncertain and awkward they made there way inside and sat on a secluded table concealed by overhanging greenery.

"Are you okay here?" He was poised before his seat, half standing half sitting. Lucille raised her eyes to meet his; they looked huge to him, large and mysterious.

"This is fine. Lovely in fact."

Remi gave her a smile and sat, letting out a little sigh of relief that they had finally got to a café without much incident. Without much of anything, Remi thought sourly, as the waiter handed him a menu. He studied her face furtively while her eyes were down cast to the menu, her skin had a naturally sun kissed glow to it; perhaps a watered down version of Cajun heritage flowed in her blood. That wasn't uncommon for a native of these parts; her hair was the colour of … what? mud? Remi inwardly winced at the comparison, no, too harsh, too rough and distasteful. Besides it was darker then that, more like the colour of coffee beans, exotic and wonderfully scented and natural. She wore it up in a clip that allowed strands to fall about her face, it was by mistake he was sure yet it looked artistic and slightly regal to Remi.

Looking objectively, Remi might have seen what most men saw when looking at Lucille, an average to passably pretty girl. Worth a second look, like the ordinary best friend of the beauty queen. Like most girls, like every second girl down the street. But she wasn't a girl, she was a woman, full in breast and body, maybe plump, but he thought she merely looked healthy.

She fidgeted and her legs brushed his beneath the table, she looked up in surprise and saw him watching her. She tried to smile but only looked flustered; Remi adored the blush that crept from the neck of her t-shirt up to her cheeks and then her hair line. The waiter came over and they placed their orders, when he left them Remi turned his gaze on Lucille and she met it, briefly.

"What did you do before you came to Sanctuary?" Remi said, opting for the casual chit chat, to ease her tense shoulders. It had the complete opposite effect; Remi cursed himself inwardly, her blush deepened.

"I err," she cleared her throat and refused to meet his eyes, her hands immediately began to nervously straighten the cutlery. "I was a lawyer."

Lucille wanted to check the back of a spoon just to confirm that her face was now a tomato. What would any normal minded being think of her when she told him she got fired for setting, a more then likely rabid, bear on the city. To her the act had been just and completely out of duty to a fellow creature of the earth. Remi would probably think she was a tree hugging nut case.

"Impressive," he drawled in his lazy voice that conveyed his admiration. "Though I never had much time for lawyers myself, they always let the bad guy go free."

Lucille's stomach plummeted and she cleared her throat again, trying her hardest not to glance at Remi's face. She gave an airy, effected laugh before answering.

"Well, I was in corporate law …"

She heard him make a sound of disgust and almost gulped, why did everyone hate lawyers? Perhaps it was the fact that they were merely highly educated scumbags and con men most of the time?

"Even worse," Remi almost growled and Lucille felt extremely offended on behalf of the good lawyers she'd known, albeit those good lawyers were herself, Bill Laurens and about three others. Lucille raised her eyes preparing to defend herself in some mediocre way, she was a lawyer for goodness sake - or had been …

Lucille saw the playful light in Remi's eyes the moment she looked at him and the tension drained out of her and she gave a loud crack of laughter that had people turning their heads, smiling fondly at the young woman looking as if she were enjoying herself tremendously by the way she cackled. Even despite her rather scary dinner partner.

"Your teasing me?" she chuckled and Remi nodded, silently laughing at her. "Everyone is so anti lawyer these days, I really thought you were going to rip my head off or something. I mean, I completely understand why, but of course we're not all like that. Well, a lot are complete assholes but there are some, myself included I suppose that are actually trying to make the world a much better place. I mean without lawyers there wouldn't be the constitutional rights we have today when you think about it, I mean, we do kind of enforce them! And before you start I know the whole spiel about constitutional rights - but we would be screwed without them. And I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Mildly," Remi teased and gave her a wink that made her hot in a whole different way. Lucille laughed again, more out of relief then anything else and leant her elbow on the table, even though she knew it was bad manners and rested her forehead in her palm, smiling to herself.

Remi was absolutely enchanted by her, so much for letting his fixation with her run its course. Then she sealed the deal by playful picking up her napkin and throwing it at him! Actually throwing it at him in retaliation for his teasing! It hit him in the face and Remi took it good naturedly and placed it on the side of the table.

"So why did you quit being a lawyer if your so very needed?"

Lucille knew Remi was mocking her again but it was all in the name of fun, and because she liked to laugh at herself - on occasion, she was brave enough to tell him the truth.

"I got fired," she grimaced good-naturedly.

"How come?"

"Well, I had a crisis of conscience and err, well, lets just say I did the un-lawyerly thing and chose good morals instead of a good fee."

"Now I am intrigued, what did you do?" Remi leant forward, his pounding heart belying his easy going smile, which was still somewhat predatory even though he had tried to soften it. Lucille did not seem to mind, though her eyes did fix on his mouth quite a bit. Remi laughed inwardly, he'd use that to his advantage after she told him what he knew was the truth of her being at Sanctuary.

Lucille pulled her eyes away from Remi's lips with difficulty and felt another wave of heat engulf her face; she just bet he saw her staring.

"I set a bear free." Lucille stopped herself from cringing but it was a close one. She waited for the shock, the disbelief, the condemnation, none came. "You don't seem shocked."

Remi shook his head.

"You're smiling," Lucille observed feeling her own lips curve. Remi nodded. "Aren't you the least bit concerned for my mental state?"

Remi laughed and reached over to take her hand, Lucille almost shivered. He turned the small, soft hand in both of his; he rubbed his thumb over her life line. Even that small pad of skin was rough and calloused, yet he was exquisitely gentle, almost as if he were making love to her with his hand alone. A part of Lucille was echoing Jadine's earlier warnings, but the bigger part didn't care, she had to at least try and find some good in this man that made her shudder and burn all at once.

"Hands like this," he said huskily, "can't do harm. They can only provide love and care. They can only do good."

If that wasn't a bucket of cold water for her, Lucille didn't know what was. A memory hit her so hard that her hand actually jerked in his.

She was on the bed next to someone she used to know, she was crying.

_"I can't do this anymore. Everything I touch turns to shit!"_

Remi let her go when she carefully extracted her hand with a small smile, but he saw the tension there again, the wariness that hadn't been there a moment ago.

"Did I do something wrong?" Remi asked, he'd never asked a woman that before in his life. In fact he'd never asked anyone that before.

"Oh, no, no, of course not," she looked away, "that was a beautiful thing to say."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, their plates were delivered, Lucille picked at hers without interest. Remi flatly refused to eat; he simply stared at her until she met his eyes and then frowned in confusion.

"Something wrong?" she asked politely.

"I don't know," he couldn't sound anything but belligerent. "Is there?"

"I don't under -"

"Let's be frank with each other, shall we?" he said briskly, not liking the way he was feeling towards her. "I said something that bothered you, I don't know what it was and don't worry -" he added quickly when she looked fleetingly panicked. "I won't ask you about it. But we were cool five minutes ago and now we're not. I'd like to get straight with you again."

Lucille was quiet for a moment, then she delicately laid down her fork and dabbed her mouth with a napkin before also laying that aside.

"May I say something to you?" she asked in a gentle voice, Remi gave her an 'I'm an open book' look and she nodded. "I've heard many things about you, Remi Peltier, many things. And to be honest, to say that just the majority of them weren't good would be an understatement. Because in all honesty none of them were good. I have seen you be mean, aggressive, not to mention violent, but that was in the job description, I think I knew that you were all those things when I first saw you."

At this point Lucille paused to take a sip of water, then she continued as if she were lecturing in a court room, Remi could not help but be aroused.

"In the same instance, I witnessed first hand your kindness towards me. Something that seemed very out of place and shocking, to most people who know you. And I have been cautioned to question your kindness, now tell me honestly. Have you done all this simply because you want to bang me?"

Remi's mouth slid open at her crudity, and Lucille gave him a wry grin, she knew she sounded like the street kid she's once been.

"What think I don't know how to cuss? To fight? To drink? I choose not to do them, but in case you haven't noticed, I'm a big girl. In more ways then one." she sardonically gestured her body.

"Nothing wrong with your body from where I'm standing," Remi murmured, rather lustily as he leaned back in his chair, seemingly flabbergasted. Luckily, Lucille did not let that look of hot promise distract her.

"Now, what is your interest in me all about?" Lucille leant forward and locked her fingers together upon the table in front of her, looking very business like. As if she were sitting at her desk in her old office, rather then at a tucked away café. Remi allowed his smile to come slowly, sexily, he noticed her watching him and he even went as far as to bite his bottom lip and slowly release it for her benefit. Then he leant forward also.

"I know for a fact that my motive towards you was not what was on your mind, nor did it make you shut down. But we'll put that aside, I won't mention it again. Coming back to said motives, I have never cared enough to take a girl out to lunch, never wanted to, never needed to. I don't know whether that does me more harm then good in your books, but truth is truth and I won't apologise for it."

Lucille raised an eyebrow and Remi carried on, wondering what kind of damage he was inflicting on his chances with her.

"I've asked you to lunch because I want to get to know you, spend time with you. Because I think you're a nice person, and perhaps its even because you were brave enough and crazy enough to release a bear from captivity, because it was the right thing to do. I want to know more about a woman I can't seem to stop thinking about. Now … how does that strike you?"

Lucille tried to look nonchalant but ended up laughing instead; she shook her head and eyed him shrewdly.

"You are entirely too perceptive and honest for a man."

"I'm not the average man," Remi shrugged as if it were mere fact and not a joke.

"All men like to think their special," Lucille shot back and Remi's lips curved sexily, before he leaned even closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"Not all men are me."

Lucille laughed again, "true."

"As to the rumours …" Remi trailed off and became serious. "Not all are rumours and not all are true. I know how much I'm asking, but would you be so kind as to go on a little faith with me?"

Lucille stilled, he didn't know what he was asking, not by a long shot. But perhaps it was time to forget the past and trust in the present, thereby making a better future. Lucille took a deep breath and nodded. Remi grinned widely.

********************************************

Lucille allowed Remi to lay his hand on the small of her back as he walked her back to Sanctuary, they passed through the doors together and made there way over to the bar. Lucille turned to him with a ready smile.

"Well, I'll see you then," she said, thinking it somehow sounded stupid but she couldn't think of anything else. Remi just smiled, but it wasn't the same free, warm smile he'd given her at the café. He was tense and alert, his smile strained, Lucille wondered what had caused the change in him. And she felt a kind of empathy for him, if this was the feeling he got when she had frozen up on him.

"Yeah, I'll call you."

"You have my number?" Lucille said, unable to conceal a trace of shock in her voice, when Remi smiled this time it was more natural.

"I'll get it out of the employee files. If that's okay with you, of course?"

"Fine," Lucille nodded and moved round to step behind the bar, she threw a few looks over her shoulder and got a thrill when she saw that Remi's eyes were still on her every time, tracing her body as she walked. Lucille almost felt sexy until she misjudged the entrance to the back room and slammed into the wall and Dev.

"Ouf! Oh, sorry!" she muttered quickly, her face flashing to boiling temperatures, before scarpering out the back. Dev's smile was good naturedly mocking and he shook his head as he watched her walk away. Then he turned back to face Remi and froze. His brother was watching him as if he were about to pounce, his lips pulled back in a silent yet ferocious snarl, Dev flicked a look over his shoulder. Nope, the boy was definitely looking at him.

"What?" Dev asked, completely nonplussed.

Remi mentally shook himself and ordered his temper to back up, he didn't want to fight his brother, for Artemis sake! What was wrong with him? Of all the people whom Remi loved, Dev was top of that short list. Dev was in sweetly and madly in love with his mate, he didn't even look at other women as far as Remi knew, since Sera had flounced into his life. To diffuse the crackling intensity between them Remi shrugged and moved around Dev and out the back where he took up his station at the door connecting the Peltier house and the club. Dev stared at him and Remi felt sweat break out under his clothes, his twin raised a inquisitive eyebrow which Remi imitated. They bugged each other out for a minute before Dev gave in with an exasperated shake of the head and a laugh, he strolled off in the general direction of the door. He'd probably be going home to his mate and the dozen kids that their house held. Remi had never thought about having kids, he always supposed if he ever found his mate they would have some. There was no such thing as a Were-hunter contraceptive. But things had changed for him, since his incarceration and subsequent escape, things that had had no bearing on his life before were suddenly on his mind. He thought about things that he had taken for granted before, that he simply assumed would come to him. What if he was to find his mate now? What would happen then? What if she were Arcadian? Remi shuddered at the thought. He liked Sera but he wasn't Dev, he couldn't play happy families with a woman that came from a race of people that had destroyed so many of his. And what about Lucille?

No! Remi slammed the shutters down on all thought in that direction, he didn't want to think of today or tomorrow. What he felt or didn't feel towards her. For now it was just her and there was nothing else. He would bury his head firmly in the sand until he was dragged out and forced to face reality, because reality said that Lucille was human and he was an animal and that they could never be. And even by some freakish twist of chaotic fate they could be, Lucille could not deal with it. And neither, he suspected, could he.

******************************************

Remi scented the air as he stood outside of Sanctuary smoking a cigarette, the weather was turning and a storm was coming in from the north. Blocking out all the noise surrounding him, Remi stared up at the night sky that was now relatively clear, but would soon swirl with black clouds. He could feel the stale humidity in the atmosphere slowly turning to a chilled moistness that kissed at his skin, and before long he spied the silent throb of lightening from the tumbling, dark tide pulling itself in. He felt the rain before he heard it, starting in a light drizzle that soon began to pound, and even though he was standing partially concealed beneath the Sanctuary roof, his hair became slick. Despite the weather, Sanctuary was pumping with vibrancy and life, they'd pulled in a good crowd this Friday and some waitresses had been called in for emergency shifts. His favourite waitress was one of them.

Waiting for a woman was an entirely new experience for Remi, it just wasn't something he'd ever had to do, he'd never been the type to anticipate the arrival of someone else. But waiting for Lucille was like the holding back of the inevitable yet earth shattering climax. The waiting for completion. He'd not seen her all day and the only thing that had not sent him hunting her up was that he knew she would be with him tonight. She'd been at Sanctuary three full weeks, she never missed a day and was never late, he would time it so he could be in the general vicinity as she walked through the door. Some women may have found this frightening in a stalker kind of way, others may have grown distance because of the intensity of it. But Lucille didn't, and that gave way to notions that maybe, just maybe, her great attendance and punctuality was about him. Just as his early rising habits and tolerance of the kitchen staff was all about her. Remi took a long drag on the cigarette and let it loose from his lungs, pouring the smoke out into the night along with his intrinsic, self-denied yearning for his mate.

That was how Lucille saw him. A dark, well-defined silhouette, leaning languidly against the brick wall, one leg propped up against it while the other was out straight in front of him. He blew a stream of smoke into the damp air, the grey swirls were as artistic and graceful as their maker, yet rebelliously curled off into the night, instead of evaporating in a straight flow. It was as sexy as hell to her.

After days in his company, becoming more comfortable in his presence, Lucille did not blush at every stuttered phrase or wrongly pronounced word. She did not feel the need to die on the spot because she had let something a little non conservative slip from her lips. Remi did not care, so why should she? She felt comfortable now to walk up to him and engage him in conversation, a feat not well managed in her world. Lucille wondered if she was merely seeing what she wished to, but instinct told her Remi was more then what he seemed or what, in fact, other people saw him as. There was a pain and depth to him that remained unexplored. A dark, moody presence that was a universal aphrodisiac to women. Yet when morning came all other women would find that repellent, Lucille knew that she would stay through morning evening and night with him if given the chance. She could not get enough of this darkness that Remi gave. An aura complex enough and deep enough to mingle and feed her own. She watched as he leant his head back against the rough brick and inhaled a long breath.

"Mmm, I know that scent," there was a smile in his voice though Lucille could not see his face. "Your right on time as usual."

He lifted his head and Lucille knew his eyes were pinned on her, she tried to walk naturally towards him. Lucille stopped in front of him and her breath caught.

He wore a tight black t-shirt fitted snugly over his abs and pecs, his jeans were baggier then usual but no less attractive. They were boyfriend jeans, the type girls would snuggle into on the morning after a spontaneous night of wild sex, they carried the warmth of a man's skin and the scent that was entirely unique to them. Lucille wanted to feel them against her thighs. More breath-taking then that even, was his hair, turned dark blond by the rain water, the curls had tightened and hung limply in a messy side parting and trailed over his shoulder and down his back.

On impulse Lucille reached her hand up and touched a silken, soaked lock, Remi did not waste the opportunity and turned his lips to her inner wrist. It was in that moment that worlds and lives shifted. Throughout the past few weeks Lucille had only ever felt his lips on one part of her body and that was her hand. She'd known he wanted her and she was pretty sure that he realised she didn't object to it, but they had strove like bashful teenagers not to touch each other and when it had happened, it was ignored with a few guilty smiles and furtive looks. The brief touches had been thrilling and electrifying but never had they met this kind of intimacy. For Lucille she was at the point of no return.

Remi wanted desperately to linger outside. It felt like they were the only two people to ever occupy that space and as long as they stood there it would only ever be the two of them. And the feeling he felt, the connection would never break as long as they stayed there. But he realised that that had to, not just because she had to work but because he could not trust himself. His hands itched to pull her against him, even if it was to simply _feel _the way she fit against him and nothing more. She had pulled her hair up in a bun atop her head, pined those coffee coloured strands into a knot with a band that had a large black flower on it. Never before inclined to judge women's fashion sense, Remi felt, however, that that small accessory alone, coupled with her pretty face transformed her beauty into something not of this world. All he could do is stare and lick his lips at the sight of strands escaping her bun. Turning into loose curls in the wetness of the evening and grazing her collar bone and the nape of her neck. It was deliciously torturous. Remi stepped back and held open the door for her with one large, paw-like hand.

"Your night of servitude awaits," he teased, deliberately playful. Lucille blinked and looked beyond him into the bar and realised she had not said a word since arriving, she smiled.

"Look at the crowd! What, did you say that the drinks would go down a penny for every person there was in there?"

"Worse … The Howlers are playing!"

Lucille groaned and trudged inside, she heard the door swing shut, Remi was right behind her.

*********************************************

The night was so busy that there were times Remi actually lost sight of Lucille, who had been pulled out of the kitchen to wait the tables. Every time he did see her, she had that slightly shell shocked look most waitresses got after a bitch of a night, when she caught his eye, however, she still managed a smile and sometimes a wave. Eventually around three the crowd began to thin and Mama was sending signals out for them to start herding the lingering bodies out the door. Enough people had left, or had started leaving, so that when Remi looked up he could see Lucille directly in the crowd. She was walking towards a table of young human men, probably about to try and usher them to the door. Remi had already snapped to attention, not wanting her in the same breathing space as a bunch of drunken louts that were not good enough to wipe her shoes. So as not to cause a scene, Remi walked instead of marched the long journey from where he stood to where Lucille was, but he could hear everything that was said.

"Hey, don't I know you?" One of the drunks squinted at Lucille through blurry eyes, Remi watched as Lucille stiffened and she looked down at the man.

"No," she said shortly and made to turn around and walk away, Remi sped up when he caught sight of her face, pale with a look of terror that past over her face and was quickly replaced by a bland, stoic expression.

"Hey! Wait! I do know you!" The guy's smile was malicious even in his intoxicated state, he stood up unsteadily and swayed on the spot. "Yeah, I know you. Don't I know you?" The guy picked his glass up and let it fall to the floor, the smash caused the remaining crowd to stop, to stare, to become silenced. When he spoke again, his voice was loaded with meaning and innuendo that had Remi planning on gutting him "Yeah, I know you real, real well, Lucille."

"Go home, Kasey!" Lucille snapped back, surprising Remi by how easily her well-polished middle class voice slipped, and she almost turned into a bawdy New Orleans hoodlum before their eyes. "Your drunk and acting a damn fool!"

Lucille did a half run half walk to the bar but not before Kasey had dropped another glass and it froze her on the spot. She did not turn and she did not move, she just breathed fast and shallow. Remi was on the guy, cursing himself for waiting that long, he laid a hand on the guy's shoulder and spun him fast so he was facing Remi's enormous stature. The guy was not yet so drunk that he didn't recognise imminent danger, but it was far too late for that. Remi brought his head forward, snapping and fast, landing his forehead on the guy's nose. The crunch was loud and sickening in the quiet of the bar and nearly everyone winced. Blood spurted and the guy's legs turned to jelly yet he remained standing only because of Remi's one hand holding him up as he repeated his head butt several times.

"Aw, shit!" Dev cursed under his breath as he rushed past Lucille to pull Remi from the guy, Lucille felt herself shaking. The pump of her heart did not seem to belong solely to her chest but was throbbing in her throat, her wrists, her stomach. The air she wrenched into her lungs was too thin and a slight dizziness overcame her. When Dev and the other Peltier brother, Lucille remembered him as Serre, pulled Remi from his prey, Kasey was unconscious and bloody. Remi roared ferociously and Lucille jumped back out of pure fear, she had never heard a sound like that come from a human, never thought such a noise could be produced by human vocal cords and throat. Dev and Serre were sweating and panting with the effort to hold him in check, the strain began to show in their red faces and pulled muscles. Remi was overwhelmed by her fear and it was making him angrier, he did not know how to calm himself, the key he needed to centre himself was ever out of reach, so elusive.

Colt came up behind Lucille and grabbed her arm, she let out an involuntary squeak of fear, he gave her a firm shake.

"Go to him, make him stop!" he said in a deadly whisper.

"Are you crazy?" she said before she could stop herself, she stared at him wide eyed, Colt narrowed his eyes at her and Lucille for some reason felt terribly ashamed of herself. Fine! She thought defiantly but didn't say it. She yanked her arm from his grasp and walked towards Remi, she made sure, however, to keep an eye on all available exits.

Dev now had one of his huge, meaty arms wrapped around Remi's throat, perhaps trying to render him unconscious but Remi would not allow it. Serre was holding his wrists. Remi tugged his arm away from his brother with his enormous strength and socked him in the face, Serre went down and had the good sense not to get up again. From the murderous look on Remi's face, Lucille envied Serre's position.

It is in the most uncertain and chaotic of times, it seems, that true epiphanies, whether they be small or big enter someone's head. The world slowed down for Lucille as she saw Remi in such a rage, and underneath that rage a horrid pain and it was then, she realised something rather phenomenal. This wasn't just meaningless violence, this wasn't a mean, fight- loving man, doing what he did best, this was for her. Perhaps she had not had someone fight on her behalf for so long that she had forgotten that it can happen. That a human being can like another person enough to actually feel pain and offence on their behalf. Lucille felt her feet quicken and she ran to Remi, dodging agilely under his flaying arm, she placed both palms flat on his chest and stared up into his frenzied eyes.

"Enough now, okay?" she said gently and though her hands were still rising and falling rapidly with his chest and blood was pumping hot and fast in his heart, Remi found the centre and it held. Without breaking eye contact, Lucille reached out a wrapped her small hand, miniscule to his, around his thick wrist. "Thank you."

Everything inside Remi softened and the feral, blind red that covered his eyes lifted, he froze, still looking down at the face of an angel. The animalistic instinct to protect what was his gently simmered down, but did not burn out, he felt it within his soul. Both the man and bear still ready at a moments notice to attack. No doubt his brothers saw it in him to, he could practically read their minds without even looking at them. But what did Lucille think? Large and guileless though they were, Remi could not read her eyes. Lucille turned her head towards Dev, who was mostly hidden behind Remi's hair and body.

"Let him go," she said in a low voice, "he's fine now."

Dev did as he was told, though rather cautiously, Remi shrugged out of the hold and moved closer to Lucille without actually putting his arms around her, her palms were still plastered to his chest.

Remi turned his head and gave Kasey a cold look, the man was finally conscious and lucid. Remi realised just how long his brothers had tried to keep him under control and restrain him.

"Look, why don't you take her home, okay," Colt said, the first of his brothers to speak, a voice of reason and order, it was not judgemental but a little tired and that to Remi felt just as bad. Lucille stepped back and was about to say something about not finishing her shift when Colt gave her a look that cut her off. She nodded and daringly, slipped her hand in Remi's, he enclosed himself around her as if it were natural and walked her to the door. Leaving the madness behind him, like a seeping residue on the walls, Remi walked into the clean, clear night. Both he an Lucille were holding on to the others hand like an anchor, trying desperately not to drown.


	5. Chapter 5

**(Warning; this chapter contains reference to child molestation and rape. If your uncomfortable with those issues, I suggest you don't read.)**

Remi and Lucille walked in silence, hand in hand. After the incident in Sanctuary Lucille wasn't worried about getting mugged, if anything she'd fear for the mugger. In fact her fear was the mugger trying to rob them and Remi hurting him so badly that he would get into trouble. Voices of her straight laced, formal friends from her old job came into her head; all were sensible women with sensible minds, and sensible lives and sensible husbands. They would have told her the sensible thing to do would be to let go of Remi's hand, tell him you'll see him around and take a cab home. For one thing she knew if she did that Remi would get in the cab with her if she insisted on getting one, he was nothing if not a gentleman around her. And for another, she didn't want to. Though her nerves were shot through by seeing Kasey again, and she knew Remi would have questions about that, she just couldn't give up the comfort he afforded, not when she felt so needy.

They stopped outside her crummy apartment building and she saw out the corner of her eye Remi's eyes rake the face of it, his expression unreadable and even in her depression she'd had enough southern belle etiquette in her to be embarrassed. All at once she became more miserable then before. She sighed to try and dislodge the ache in her throat, months of stress and strain, from moving to losing her job, and all her sensible friends to seeing Kasey came to a peak at that moment. She almost had to laugh, she'd known it was coming but it was typical that her breaking point couldn't be in the privacy of the shower or under the covers of her own bed. No, it had brought with it more humiliation.

Remi wasn't a complete stranger to humans and their emotions, having had to blend in with them in almost everyway possible he'd had to learn that it was in their make-up to do crazy things like cry when happy and laugh when sad. Lucille wasn't as complex as that, not tonight at least, tonight she was sad and unhappy and she wanted to cry, and it hurt him to think that he could be the reason for that.

"Do you want to come up?"

Remi did a double take, he was sure she was going to thank him in her quiet, solemn way and tell him she was tired, yet again he had misjudged the workings of a human emotional system. Then again she could just be being polite, but he answered honestly like the animal in him demanded he do.

"I want to come up, but I don't know if you want me to," he said softly staring up at dark windows that looked back at him like sneering eyes. Remi looked back at Lucille with a wry grin. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but perhaps you need some sleep."

Lucille took a shuddering breath, "no, I'd rather not be alone right now, if that's okay with you?"

Remi nodded, he knew she wasn't interested in sex with him, not tonight and he also knew it would be irresponsible to make moves on her. He'd done so before with emotional human women and woke up the next morning with them either thinking that it was the beginning of a relationship or something equally as catastrophic. Remi admitted, should he and Lucille sleep together, it would be unlikely he would be in a hurry to leave, but maybe she would and he couldn't bear that. As much as it made him cringe because he sounded so girly, that was how deep his feelings went for her.

The apartment was small; barely enough for one person, Remi could see she had tried to make it homey. The paintings on the walls, the vases of flowers, vanilla scented potpourri. Some of the furniture looked too expensive for the dingy flat and Remi could only guess that it had been stuff she had taken from a previous apartment or they had been given to her. Her window sill held a charming array of different sized iron lanterns with coloured glass in them, knickknacks were plotted all over the living room. There something delightfully cosy about the place, or maybe it was just because it was Lucille's.

"Make yourself at home," Lucille gestured to her large, squashy looking couch, with an orange throw over it and a scattering of pillows. Remi sat and eyed the pile of bills on the dark wood coffee table. He looked over his shoulder and saw that Lucille was not in the room; he picked up the stack and started to flip through. Most of them were the usual household stuff and rent, but what caught Remi's eye were a hospital bill and a letter from Bill Laurens' firm. Remi first checked the hospital bill. He frowned darkly when he saw that a substantial bill had been run up over the last few months for treatments regarding an overdose of a woman called Janet O'Malley. Remi's frown deepened and he put the letter back in its envelope and on the table. He was struck by how little he really knew about Lucille. The letter was personally written from Bill Laurens which had a small spurt of jealousy shooting through Remi, which he knew was silly because everyone knew Bill was madly in love with his wife. When he had read it Remi was almost ready to take a chunk out of the chair, Lucille had been sued by the family who had kept him in captivity and treated him so badly, for damages to possessions and property. She had been fined by the court $50,000 when they were illegally keeping him anyway. Apparently the family he left alive when seeking his revenge were just as vile as the ones he'd killed.

Remi quickly threw the letters back on the table when he heard Lucille coming; he turned his head to see her walking from her bedroom, tying her long hair back in a ponytail. It feel in a sleek brunette line down her back, she had on a white t-shirt and tartan pyjama bottoms, Remi felt a weird tenderness steal into his arms at the sight of her looking so homely in his presence.

"Want something to eat or drink?" Lucille said, her voice and expression was sober and utterly devoid of cheer.

"Coffee?" he suggested and Lucille nodded and moved a few steps and was in the kitchen, Remi could see every move she made. He felt guilty watching the way her bottoms strained against her beautiful ass as she crouched down to get something from the cupboard. Remi snapped his eyes up to head height when she swished back towards him wit two steaming cups in her hands, she handed him one before swinging a leg under her and settling down beside him. Her knee brushed the side of his thigh, Remi had never been so aware of her body as he was in that moment, her breasts were without bra and were heavy and softer under the stretched white material. He could even vaguely see the darkened discs that were her nipples. He'd not seen a line to indicate that she was wearing panties under her flannel bottoms, it caused a weird sensation in him to know that her body was so vulnerable to him. He could do anything he wanted with her and so could any other man, she was only a woman, a human, she couldn't possibly comprehend half the mysteries in this world, let alone fight them. Who did she have to shelter her from such madness?

_Me! _A voice that was the very essence of who he was rumbled up from the core of his being and Remi lifted his hand and placed it comfortingly over hers. Her sadness washed over him more intensely with the contact and Remi felt her squeeze his hand.

"I'm sorry if I scared you tonight," he said as softly as his could with his throat feeling so dry. Lucille smiled slightly and put down her cup so she could grip Remi's one hand in her two, small warm ones, her thumbs rubbed over his knuckles rhythmically.

"That's okay. I'm sorry I put you in that position, I should have handled it better."

"No," Remi said sharply, "you did nothing wrong. That piece of shit needed to be taught how to talk to a lady."

A tear so silent and small dropped from Lucille's eye and she quickly rubbed it away, letting go of Remi's hand. Remi raised his hands and cupped her face, but she refused to meet his gaze.

"What? What's wrong?"

Lucille took a deep shuddering breath before pulling out of his hold and swiping her hands hastily under her eyes.

"There are things you don't know about me Remi," she began the only way she knew how. "I really like you and I don't want to let what's between us go on under a misapprehension."

"It won't change anything -"

"You can't know that. Men are strange about things like that -"

"I'm not other men," Remi snapped, breathing heavily, "I'm not other men, not an old boyfriend. I'm me. I asked you to go on some faith with me, please show me you meant it."

Instead of feeling scared or nervy by his harsh tones, Lucille felt strangely reassured by it. Her aggressive, slightly psychotic, huge, bear like friend was unlike anyone she had ever known. Whatever anyone else saw in him was completely irrelevant now, because she was already half in love with him, perhaps he could see through her past the way she looked through everything bad that he was.

"When I was nine years old my father tried to molest me," Lucille closed her eyes and took a deep breath forcing the truth from between her lips, "he did molest me."

Remi felt breath shoot from his lungs, he'd never expected her to say something like that, and it shook him all the way to his bones. He had no experience with people who had been sexually abused, he had no experience with people who had been through that kind of trauma. He'd seen the kind of people that committee those type of crime time and again in Sanctuary, and though they disgusted him, they were worthless in his eyes and had no value remembering. But Lucille was so … normal. He expected victims of such things to be nervous wrecks, unable to lead normal lives, weary of men, relationships, all those things. Lucille looked as if she had grown up with the Smiths behind a white picket fence.

"He'd been doing it to my sister for years, she was fourteen at the time it was happened to me." Lucille's voice was monotone and even casual, Remi felt his stomach churn and he could feel the anger inside him building up and up. "No one knew what was happening to her, not my mother, not my aunts, no one. They just thought she was mentally ill, she was withdrawn, apathetic and socially awkward. She didn't tell a soul. The night he did it to me, I cried and begged him to stop, you don't need the details, but anyway … he didn't stop. In the morning I wouldn't get out of bed and my mom came to get me."

Lucille stopped and took a breath, she looked up at Remi for the first time and her eyes were haunted.

"I've started so I'm going to tell you all of it. If you don't want to hear it then leave, but either way I'm asking you not to tell anyone about this. Understand?"

Remi felt his chest grow tight, did anyone have a right to be as brave as her, he wondered. Remi run his thumb over her cheek bone and Lucille felt the tension in her ease. She had come to terms a long time ago with what had happened to her, but it took a while for others to do so. Remi like always, seemed to be taking each thing she said in his stride.

"Well, anyway, I ended up telling mom, she saw the blood on the sheets. She made me tell her what had happened. She waited all day for my father to come home, made my sister and me stay upstairs. She went downstairs and took the gun my father kept, from its cabinet, she waited for him to come through the door and I heard her confront him with what he'd done. He denied it at first but she took a shot at him. Apparently it was a shot meant to frighten him, but make no mistake I knew my mother. She meant to kill him that day. God, it was so loud. Like fireworks loud, it frightened me so much that I began to cry. I think that's what distracted her, there was a struggle. Another shot … and my father blew my mothers head into the wall."

"Jesus!" Remi whispered, Lucille shrugged and stared at the corner of the coffee table. "What happened?"

"He got off. He had a sharp lawyer who claimed self-defence. As for the charges of child molestation, rape, he got two years."

"What!" Remi growled, appalled and sickened. Lucille gave him a smile like a teacher trying to explain the ways of the world to an impassioned adolescent.

"It's the way things go. They made my sister look like a whore and said that there was no proof my father had done anything to her. They said that she was mentally unstable and because she was refused to testify, it confirmed their suspicions. I was the reason he got two years. First offence, he'd never done it before, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Remi wanted blood, he wanted to find this man, this sickening thing that had no place on God's earth and cause pain, make him feel terrible, agonising pain. Like the one lacerating Remi's heart at that moment. Remi rubbed a hand over his mouth and looked at Lucille.

"I had no idea."

Lucille laughed sadly. "Why would you? Its not something I publicise. I'm not ashamed about what happened to me, for the longest time I was. I've mostly dealt with it, its not something you can forget, but its something you can lock away for a long time, you know?"

Remi nodded, feeling that incredible bond with her deepen, he wished vehemently that he could tell her everything about him. Wished he could tell her he was an animal in human skin, that he knew there were Gods and Goddesses that frequented the bar often, that he wanted her to be his mate, about his captivity. About her being his salvation in everyway a person could be.

"Anyway like I said I was ashamed and angry for such a long time. I went into the system and got lost in it, like so many young people. Janet - my sister - she was adopted."

Remi gave the hospital bill on the table a furtive glance, could Janet O'Malley be Lucille Renn's sister? Most definitely.

"There weren't a lot of people out there who cared for a kid like me, even less when I turned teenager and started giving shit to everyone that came near me. I got in with a rough crowd, drank, did drugs, had indiscriminate sex, got into fights. I just didn't care about myself anymore, the way I figured it was, if my body wore out before I got out of the system, then all the better."

Remi wanted to cringe at the stark, bleak picture she painted of her life, and he'd been selfish enough to believe that he's was bad? The thought of her as a little girl, with brown hair and big eyes, being hurt in such heinous, deviant ways, by a depraved, sickening freak, then to be left alone to face her demons. Society had a lot to answer for!

"What changed you?" Remi asked, wanting so badly to hold her.

"One very special man," Lucille gave a small, warm smile and Remi sent up his own private thanks for that one special person that pulled her out of hell. "I'd got so drunk one night that the guys we were hanging with started to try and do things, Kasey was one of them." Remi bared his teeth and a growl rumbled in his throat, Lucille pretended not to notice. "I was in no fit state to protect myself, even though I half knew what was going on. To be perfectly honest, I think someone slipped something in my drink, but I'll never know for sure. Anyway this guy comes over and he puts me in his car and takes me to his house. I spend the night throwing up and all the usual stuff. I woke the next morning feeling like shit and he was so kind. At first I thought he was some kind of pervert but he wasn't. He was a teacher at a local high school and he sat me down at the breakfast table and we just … talked. I thought I was so tough back then, so smart and unbreakable, he was just spouting the same old shit that every other person told me. But when he said it, it made sense, I don't know, something just clicked in me and I knew I wanted to be better then I was."

"Did you ever see him again?"

"He would write me letters every two weeks and when he was there when I graduated. My case worker had called him and he came all the way to congratulate me."

"Do you still see him?"

"No. He died not long after that last time. Cancer."

"I'm sorry."

Lucille leaned her head on the back of the couch still looking at Remi, her face was clearer but she still looked tired.

"Thank you."

Remi could not resist, he reached over to cup her face in his big paw, that was bigger then the side of her delicate head, he leaned in and kissed her gently on the lips. Gentle, tender, sweet, things that Remi had never been before, things he had once scorned were so much apart of him when he was with her. Surely they were meant to be with each other, she had touched his life for a reason, at first Remi had seen her as his salvation. Now he wondered whether he had as much to offer her, it was wishful thinking he knew, but should she accept him she would never be in want for protection, safety … love. So much of who and what she was made sense to him, related to him, in a way other people didn't, others confused him. He felt the locking in place of vital parts, the clicking of essential pieces, the flicking of fundamental switches. This revelation elevated his mood completely and he smiled against her lips.

"Très bien, chéri," he murmured and felt her shiver, Remi ran his tongue along the bottom of her lip before he pulled back with a wicked grin. "You like it when I speak French to you?"

Lucille shook her head with a light laugh, before she looked back at him, though her expression said casual indifference, her eyes pleaded something else entirely.

"Now you know the worst of me, what are you going to do?"

"Oh no, bébé," Remi clasped her hand gently and pulled her forward, he turned her so she was leaning back against his solid, broad chest. He knew she would need him to hold her now, rather then pity or awkwardness, she needed to trust in him, she needed sweetness. For her he would be all of those things. "I know the best of you. Would you think it wrong of me to tell you, how I admire you?"

Remi kissed the side of her neck and he felt her stroke the forearm he had locked around her chest.

"Hmm, so now you've seen my scars, do you have any of your own?"

Remi pulled back and leant his head on the top of the couch, he longed to tell her so much, he wanted truth to be told between them, so he could honour her the way he should, as his saviour. It would be fair to say that Remi was now in a state of utter idolisation with this woman.

"I have some," he murmured throatily, Lucille listened to the huskiness of his voice and let it take her away from fresh memories and old hurts. He had such a beautiful voice, thickly laced with his French accent and American colloquialisms, she wondered how she could ever have hoped to be so lucky as to find herself in the arms of such a beautiful man, and she didn't mean aesthetically.

"Not very long ago something happened to me. No one knows about it. But the fact is it scarred me in ways that I hate, I'm used to having my body torn up in fights. But this caused wounds that people can't see, only me. It tears at my mind all the time and it makes me feel weak."

Remi's voice was deadly, and Lucille held her breath praying he would continue speaking, his hands rubbed a gently massage on her shoulders that soothed him just as much as it did her, keeping him centred.

"When what happened, happened I was arrogant, I convinced myself that I could never be broken, I was too tough and too mean, too powerful." He gave a sardonic laugh before continuing. "But it did, and I can't tell anybody, especially not my family. Because they value strength in a way you wouldn't believe, they wouldn't understand and because of that they would think me weak and I couldn't live with that."

"No one ever understands how cruelty can break us, do they?" Lucille mused, Remi's greedy fingers, found solace in the lushness of her brown locks, he inhaled deeply, taking in the coconut scented shampoo.

"No they don't, cher," Remi replied, raping one lock against his jaw line and over his lips, had Lucille seen this it would have made her melt, as it was she was administering her affections on the small part of him that she had. His huge, powerful forearm that could cause so much damage and pain, was locked around her like a cage, meant to protect and keep safe those behind it. Like a wing that shelters smaller ones from the storm, she huddled under it, wanting him to make her safe, trusting that he would.

"What happened to you, Remi?" Lucille asked quietly, her eyes sliding closed.

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that I was saved to?"

"By who?"

"You." Remi said quietly and even though she did not open her eyes, Lucille frowned.

"I didn't do anything -"

"Believe me, love, you did it all."

Remi used his powers to push her to sleep and pulled the throw over them both, Remi snuggled down lower, kicking off his boots as he did so, so they clunked on to the floor. He dared not sleep with her lest he turn back into his bear form and she woke up to find him that way; she'd be scared out of her wits.

*******************************************

Lucille woke alone the next morning and she immediately missed Remi's presence, she at up and threw the throw from her body, she didn't see a piece of paper slid underneath her couch. She felt instantly weary, last night she had been vulnerable, she was the first to admit it, she had told him more about herself and her past in one night then half the people she'd known most of her adult life, even her friend Bill Laurens didn't know the kind of background she came from.

A distinct nervousness plagued Lucille all through the day and it developed into an all out fear when she had heard no word from him, she briefly considered calling him, but maybe he would think she was a bit of a stalker.

Lucille picked up the cordless phone and tapped it against her lip, deliberating, she put it down. Then just as quickly picked it back up again, she dialled half the number and cancelled it, she dialled the whole number and hung up before it could ring. She cursed herself for being a coward. Surely he wouldn't think her calling him was her being too intense, look what kind of night they had spent together for crying out loud! What they had experienced was more intimate then sex in some ways. Lucille dialled, cringed when it began to ring, her heart went cold when it went to voice mail.

No word from him all over the weekend had Lucille coming to the only conclusion possible, he'd freaked out because of what she had told him. Damn it, why had she been so honest with him? But then she thought he hadn't cared, when he obviously did, he was just likely filling what he thought was his duty. Comforting a distraught woman through the night, Lucille felt her anger stir. She never asked him to take her home, she never asked him to come on to her, she never asked him to give her a bloody job! As far as she was concerned she had bared her soul to him and he had thrown it back in her face, as far as she was concerned he was trash! Lucille got ready for work Monday afternoon, she was working from one until eight tonight, her entire being told her that she should stay home, forget the job, so she wouldn't have to face Remi and all that humiliation. He'd probably told his brother's by now, his mother, the lodgers at Sanctuary. Her mind was left to run wild continued to escalate it into a full scale crisis. She had called him once more in the hope that he'd just not been at the phone the first time, but that was wishful thinking.

Lucille really did not want to go to work, but a small yet strong part of her told her that she had to. She could not let another selfish individual screw with her life, she needed this job and she needed this apartment, as pathetic looking as it was. All she would face if anything was people talking about her behind her back, a few sniggers, a lot of stares. Nothing major. It felt good saying it in the comfort of her own home, but trying to maintain that attitude in work would be an entirely different thing altogether. Lucille tried desperately to hold on to the anger she had felt earlier, but she wasn't like that, when left to stew it simmered down, she needed to strike there and then while the iron was hot. Now she was just back to feeling plain old hurt, and it really did hurt.

******************************************

Lucille left work in a daze, Remi hadn't been there which was a bonus, but he had told people and that tore her heart apart. Coupled with the phone call she'd got minutes before leaving for work, she was in a state. She wished she had been working up until the early hours of the morning so she didn't have to think or feel anything, just to concentrate on the job at hand. Unfortunately she was going home to an empty apartment with hours of time to fill, to sit and think in, to remember in.

_Things can't get any worse …._

As the thought crossed her mind there was a rumble of thunder and rain instantaneously poured like someone had switched a thousand hoses on at full blast. Lucille did not run for cover, she did not even flinch, she just walked slowly and calmly the way she had since leaving Sanctuary.

"I stand corrected," she mumbled and let the cold rain soak into her hair and skin, it felt good and most of all it was distracting to concentrate on the coldness in her skin and the trails the teardrops of rain were leaving behind.


	6. Chapter 6

Remi stalked back into Sanctuary at nine o clock Monday night, he went straight to the kitchen and looked for Lucille.

"She ain't here."

Remi looked up to see the pretty, pregnant, black lady; she was putting on her coat and picking up her umbrella.

"Where she go?" Remi demanded and he smelt the fear from her, he felt like an asshole. "Could you tell me?"

He tried to be as polite as he could be without saying please.

"Home, of course," she said, before slipping out the back way. Remi had been away all weekend and he'd missed Lucille terribly, more then he expected to. The weekend had been one of tying up loose ends, so to speak, while he was away he'd sent a cheque to Bill Laurens paying the fifty thousand, then one to the hospital, he'd asked to remain anonymous but Lucille wasn't a fool. As hard as it was for him to believe, she had little o no people in her life that cared for her. She was alone and Remi hated that, so he had made it his personal mission to fill that space in her life, first of all by making things easier for her. It was the least he could do. Remi wasted no time and headed for his bike he had parked out front, before he could make it to the door his mother blocked his path.

Remi could see she was seething, before he could stop himself he gave her what he hoped was a charming look.

"Evening maman," he said smoothly.

"Don't you dare 'evening maman' me!" she growled, "where have you been? All weekend and we hear nothing from you!"

Although angry resentment boiled inside he had always been respectful to his mother.

"Maybe I should have waited another year, you might have stopped worrying," he said sarcastically, so maybe he wasn't that respectful anymore. But his anger had been for his mother and father most of all. They had not come for him when he had been captured, why? He wanted to demand, what was so bad about him that they would let him disappear without a trace?

Mama Lo slapped Remi quick and sharp around the face, Remi did not flinch, in fact his skin did not even redden. Mama Lo immediately put a hand to her mouth and let out a gasping sob of shock and remorse.

"Good night, maman," Remi moved around her and out the door, had anyone else done that, even his father, he would have likely struck back. He wasn't sure why he allowed his mother to get away with that, he'd just always made allowances for her, perhaps it was time he stopped. Dev was bouncer at the door and he sat on a chair with Sera on his lap, I.D-ing the customers. He looked up as Remi walked past.

"Hey," he said loud enough so Remi stopped and turned, "you back now?"

"No, I'm just a figment of your imagination, dumb ass!" Remi replied scathingly. Dev flipped him off.

"I mean are you back for good, retard?"

Remi swung on to his bike and revved it up, he gave a mocking laugh.

"I doubt I'll spoil anyone's life for much longer, I might just go where people pretend to care."

Dev paused, Remi was a sarcastic bastard, he always had been, and if Dev had heard it once he'd heard Remi say something like that a thousand times, but there had never been such a bitter acidity to his tone before. Dev opened his mouth to say something but Remi was already riding.

*****************************

Remi pulled his bike to a stop on the corner opposite Lucille's building, if he hadn't been a Were-hunter with keen eyesight and great reflexes, he was sure he'd have crashed in the torrential rain that had begun earlier in the evening. He sat for a moment, letting the engine purr, he watched the rain fall through the shaft of light created by his bike. It looked gentler as it fell through the light, didn't look as if it hit the ground so hard. That's what light did, didn't it? It made things look a whole lot better, but in truth there was nothing in the light that wasn't in the dark, only fear and uncertainty. Perhaps that was why he still kept his light on, a sense of uncertainty had been plaguing him since coming home, it was like a bad itch somewhere your hand just could not reach. In an awkward place like on the back of your throat. Remi sighed before switching off his engine and swinging his leg off the bike, he heard his body creak and snap, he reached down to massage that back of his thigh, flicking a casual glance up towards the top of the building, where Lucille's window was.

Remi did not need to approximate the location of said window, because the lights were on. The window was open, the curtains open and sat on the very edge of the rickety sill was Lucille. Remi made an embarrassing noise that was almost a shriek and immediately dematerialised to the living room of her apartment, he did not want to startle her into falling and smashing her body on the pavement. Sometimes fatalities happened faster then a Were could react, Remi moved swiftly across the carpet and grabbed Lucille around the waste firmly, he locked his arms around her and in her surprise, like he expected she let go of the sill.

He dragged her kicking and screaming and soaking through the window, even when he'd let her feet touch the carpet she continued to fight. No doubt thinking he was a burglar she was in a blind panic, blind being the operative word. Her eyes were open she was looking at him yet she continued pounding at his chest, rather pointlessly, with her fists. Remi's nerves were on a razor edge, they were shot and jangling within his body and bones, he gripped her wrists, perhaps enough to hurt and he shook her hard.

"What the hell d'you think your doing, huh!" He shouted in her face, and by the fading of shock, he knew she recognised him. "What are you doing? What are you doing?"

He shook her with every question, repeating it and repeating it, until he was almost sobbing it. He pulled her against his chest and held her there hard.

Lucille wasn't sure how to explain the situation to him. Even she admitted it was odd and her standing in a puddle of water that had dripped from her body was not exactly an advert for sanity. Just as Lucille was putting her arms around Remi's broad shoulder's to still the trembling of his body, he wrenched her back from him. His body was cold but the expression on his face was far from it, it was a furnace of pent up fury and it trilled her as much as it frightened her.

"What were you doing?!"

"Thinking," Lucille tried to sound casual but she physically cringed as she said it.

"On the window sill? In the Rain!"

"Remi, this isn't -"

"Do not even -" Remi had his finger pointed in her face, the tip touched her cheek. For a moment he looked as if words escaped him, he didn't need them. His anger was tangible. He pointed for a few moments, staring at her as if he wanted to strangle her, then he turned away from her so he could better finish his sentence. "Do not tell me it isn't a big deal," his voice was deceptively calm. "You could have killed yourself!"

Lucille cringed as his voice shook the walls, so much for calm.

"I wouldn't have slipped if you hadn't crept up behind me! How the hell did you get in here anyway?"

"That isn't the point! How could you be so stupid?"

Lucille felt words pulling free of her lips, words that she wanted with everything that was in her, just as much as she didn't want to say them.

"Who do you think you are coming in here and talking to me like I'm some stupid child?" She shouted back, "I am not a child! I'm a grown woman and if you haven't noticed that fact then you're blind as well as stupid!"

Remi growled.

"Go on growl, roar, spit and shout all you like! I thought we were friends. I thought I meant something to you!"

"What's this bullshit?"

"Oh, don't play innocent, it really doesn't suit you," Lucille said scathingly, "I told you some of my worst memories the other night. I told you more then I ever told anyone. And just when I thought that none of it effected you, or, or made a difference to you. You leave … you just leave."

To her horror her voice trembled and tears spilled over.

"Not one word from you for almost three days, how the hell is that supposed to make me feel. And you told people, how could you?"

"Lucille, I haven't told anyone -"

"Bullshit!"

"It's the truth!" Remi cried, offended that she would ever think he had betrayed her like that.

"They were all staring at me when I walked in there, smiling and laughing behind my back. Talking about me! Why? Why do you think that is?"

"Maybe it's because for the first time in all the years that they have known me, I've fought for something other then for the sake of it. I fought for you, for your honour, for your safety."

That stopped Lucille in the beginnings of a snarl, Remi looked at her and she looked away, she looked ashamed. And despite his anger at her, that stemmed from fear more then anything else, he did not ant her to feel like that. She gave a cute, little hiccup after trying to suppress so many sobs, Remi moved forward and cupped her face.

"I left you a note," he said lamely, Lucille's eyes looked up and caught his, then away again.

"I didn't get it."

Remi turned and walked towards the couch, first he slipped his hand between the creases between the pillows and cushions, it wasn't there. He remembered he had left her sleeping soundly with her delicate hand placed over the top of it, perhaps she had pushed it off in her sleep? Remi got to his knees and felt under the couch, his hand touched paper, he pulled back and sighed then held his hand out. Lucille eyed it for a moment in silence before walking forward and taking it from him. She unfolded it and read:

_Good morning cheri,_

_I hope you slept well, I'm sorry I wasn't there to see you wake. It will be one of my true regrets in life. I'm going away for a few days, I know this isn't the best way to tell someone but I didn't want to wake you, you looked just to beautiful and peaceful, so forgive me. I'll be back on Monday and I won't be taking my phone with me. Wait for me, I'll find you. _

_Remi_

_P.S._

_Je laisse mon coeur avec vous, prenez soin de lui pour moi._

Lucille felt like the biggest fool in the world, she closed her eyes as if trying to shield herself from it, but the heat that started in her cheeks was scalding the rest of her body.

"I'm sorry," she whispered and to her surprise Remi laughed, she looked at him, he was still on his knees, he turned so he was facing her. Lucille flushed even more to realise that his face, or more precisely his mouth, was in the general area of a very private space. Remi's face widened with glee and he reached out spanning her waist with his big mighty hands, he pulled her forward so quickly she almost stumbled, Remi steadied her then pressed his face into her stomach.

"Now that was almost a catastrophe of crossed wires, don't you think?" He chuckled, his voice muffled. Lucille was too relieved to answer instead she just raked her fingers gently through his hair, Remi groaned with satisfaction in response.

"Mmm, I missed you," he said so intensely happy to be with her and know she was safe, he didn't care if he was making a stupid schmuck out of himself.

"I'm so glad your back," Lucille whispered into his hair and Remi pulled back, he looked surprised.

"Really?" He even sounded surprised and Lucille nodded furiously, like and idiot.

"Uh huh. It felt like I'd lost my best friend."

Remi got to his feet and pulled her into his arms, he felt like he was home. In the past year he had yearned for this place, a place of comfort and simple truth. He found solace in the plain honesty that she gave him, the unconditional affection. There were no checks or balances to her tenderness, no forced enthusiasm in her affection, there was no blood tie demanding that she care for him. She just did and it was a miracle. Lucille rubbed her face against his chest and inhaling his scent made a small, kittenish noise of contentment.

"Where did you go?" she asked, her voice husky, Remi was jogged out of his revere by her question, he felt the chill of foreboding cause him to shiver.

"No where," he pulled out of her arms and shrugged. Lucille got her own chill, his deliberate evasiveness caused alarm bells to go off in her head and her bullshit meter was tingling.

"Remi, where did you go?" she said more firmly. Remi raked his hands threw his hair in agitation, she could sense it from him, he prowled back and forth like a cornered animal. "Where, Remi? Just tell me?"

"Why is it so important?"

Her alarm bells were giving her a head ache and suddenly they stopped and so did her meter; the phone call.

"Was you anywhere near Phoenix?"

Remi went pale and Lucille's heart beat thumped so hard it made her feel sick, she started to breathe through her mouth, her worst fears were confirming themselves.

"Were you in Arizona, Remi?"

Remi's face hardened and he faced her fully and Lucille gasped, she put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes.

As she was walking out the door to go to work earlier in the afternoon, the phone had rung. As his last surviving relative and his next of kin, it was their duty to inform her that her father was dead, murdered. They didn't disclose the details of how, Lucille didn't want to know, and she really didn't care. Some people would have expected her to be shocked, perhaps feel some sense of duty to go to his funeral, even if it were just to make sure he was dead. There was no sense of emptiness in her, no sense of sudden finality, of regret at never being able to confront him. Lucille had indeed dealt with what had happened to her, her teenage years of drug haze had spat her out clean and clear on the other side, she wanted no part of such a vile creature. He was not her father, she told herself now that she had been spurned by a woman and that was that. With time to think about it, she knew that she was pleased, she did not consider that this would make her seem like a bad person, she didn't care. She hated what had happened to her, she hated him and she did not forgive him, she could live with that very easily. People liked to say you couldn't live with hate because it ate away at you, she must be an exception to the rule.

What scared Lucille was Remi. Most of her was horrified by what he'd done, the man was capable of murder, how unhinged was he?

"Don't," Remi said, his face stark with emotion, "don't do that, Lucille."

"Remi, you murdered him," Lucille could not get her voice above a strained whisper, she didn't want to in case one of the neighbours had a glass up against their thin walls.

"He deserved it," Remi said simply and Lucille laughed at how ludicrous yet how simple and logical it sounded at the same time.

"Remi, you missing the point," Lucille said, her hand rubbing at her forehead, she had no idea what to do. Remi seemed as sane as every other person she'd ever met, and sometimes despite his outbreaks of uncontrolled violence, he seemed more in tune with world around him then any other. There was a depth of understanding to him and a knowledge in him that should be illegal for such a young man to carry.

"Remi -" Lucille faltered, her years of training as a lawyer had failed her. Sure there were plenty of arguments to build a case on why he should not have done it, but in the face of him and his strength, his bravery, his honour and his unwavering loyalty, his honesty, they were futile and stupid. In her deepest heart of hearts, Lucille didn't believe him insane. He was just a man of strong passions and a terrible temper, fuelled by devotion to the people he cared for and she had no doubt now that he cared for her. But was that any better, he couldn't even say he didn't know what he was doing, because he had gone after her father with intent to kill.

Remi could not stand that look on her face, somewhere between despair and defeat, he walked towards her. He gripped her arms tight, relieved when she didn't flinch, she looked up into his eyes, searching his for something.

"Listen to me, Lucille," Remi began, he could have lied but deep down a part of him wanted her to know, so he would go on with nothing but the truth for her. "You know I'm not crazy, right? You know that?"

"I know that."

"But I am different, you know that too, don't you? You look at me and you know there is something inside of me that sets me apart from the world that surrounds us. There's a part of me that's like an animal, like … like that bear you set free. I'm wild at heart, I have instincts of an animal and feelings so intense that I can't control them. I'm an animal because I protect what I care for, what I call my own. Someone hurt you, Lucille, he hurt you terribly. The animal in me wanted revenge for that, for you, for me. I wanted to take that man out of the world so he couldn't ever inflict pain again. I wanted retribution for what was done to a person I can't live without.'

Remi drew a breath, he was shaking with fear of losing her.

"I told you, you saved me, Lucille, and it was the truth. If that school teacher hadn't got through to you, if you hadn't been as strong and as smart and as brave as you are, if you hadn't have pulled through. Then I would be dead to. Then I would never have got to have you in my life, and you mean so much to me."

Lucille began to cry, Remi pulled her close and she let him.

"Have you ever been in love before?" Remi asked, Lucille sobbed harder, soaking his white t-shirt, making transparent splotches on his chest. She shook her head anyway.

"Neither have I. But let me tell you something, love isn't just promising to die for another person. Dying is easy, promises are easy. But love, when it's real, is living for a person. Is sheltering them with your body if need be, not from storms but from arrows and fists and pain. It's lying for them to the whole world and then some, just to protect them. Its stealing for them, it's killing for them. What other man, can you stand in front of me and say, would kill for you?"

Lucille lifted her head, her eyes were tormented and red, Remi waited with bated breath, he'd given her all he had, laid himself bare to her. He needed her, he loved her. Weeks, months, he didn't care how long had past. He didn't care that they hadn't yet had sex, he didn't care that she wasn't his mate. Lucille suddenly gripped his shoulders and pulled herself up so she could crush her mouth against his, she pulled back, still weeping.

"You're not an animal."

Remi felt the relief flood over him and he picked her up in his arms, his lips finding her lips, her wet cheeks and her long, soft neck. She kissed him back with as much fervour, the feel of her velvet soft lips touching his skin in different places drove him wild. He wanted her now with a desperation that bordered on madness, aware of how close he had come to losing her. Remi picked her up and Lucille wrapped her legs around his waist, Remi bruised her lips with his own, pushing his tongue between them to tangle with hers. They danced erotically together while Remi walked blindly towards the bedroom, forgetting about promises, about Were-Hunter and human, forgetting that he had ever been hurt in the wake of such erotic promise. Remi sat Lucille on the bed and pulled back so he could look at her, she stared up at him, her tears drying on her cheeks and lashes, her body and soul waiting to be made his. Finally he was home.


	7. Chapter 7

**(Sorry people for the HUGE load of mistakes I made in my last two chapters, I know how mad I get when fanfics aren't written well. I promise this is proof read.)**

Lucille studied Remi's face intently; it showed a mixture of passionate desire and uncertainty. Intuition told her that it wasn't the act of making love that made Remi uncertain, she would stake her life on it that he was a lover of unrivalled passions and never-ending stamina. She could see it in the virile, powerful form of his body and the straining bulge of his pants.

Lucille was about to stand up when Remi's hands came down on her shoulders, holding her butt to the mattress. He slid his warm hands upwards to cup her neck and lowered his head slowly as if giving her time to pull back, he was being so gentle, too gentle. It was as heart breaking as it was beautiful. Lucille reached up and clamped her hand on to the back of Remi's head she yanked him to her and crushed her lips to his. She felt the shock stutter on his lips before he hastened to slip his tongue into her mouth, while pushing her back on to the bed. His warm hands moved over her faster, with more urgency and Lucille gasped with pleasure when Remi's palms met her breasts and his wet mouth sucked on her neck. Remi pulled back slightly and trailed his hands down to the waistband of her jeans, his hands tugged so hard at the material that he heard them tear. Remi didn't see it coming away in strips, all he saw was the sweet flesh underneath, like a waiting banquet tantalising a starving man. Remi slid off the bed and on to his knees, as eager as his hands were there was still an embedded reverence in his touch.

Remi licked his dry lips as his eyes drank in the sight of her spread out before him, her thighs lying open to his gaze. The only thing that stopped him seeing her fully was a thin, lacy triangle of red underwear. Remi felt his cock jerk at the dampness seeping through the material, soaking it to a deeper colour. Remi placed both hands on either ankle and pushed them so that Lucille obliged in bending her knees. He then ran his rough palms up her shins, he stretched them over her knees and worked them down her thighs. Closing his eyes to allow his four other senses to digest the sensations, he played and massaged her fleshy thighs, finding the feel of them perhaps more erotic then the sight of them gaping for him. He repeated his actions up and down her legs many times with his eyes opening now and again to fix on her trickling core, all the while, like background music, Lucille's staccato panting got louder.

"You know what my favourite part of your body is?" He said with a voice like gravel. Lucille shook her head and managed a breathy "no". Her body was consumed by a burning she had never felt before, her heart was pounding and her lower half aching for Remi.

"This." Remi ran his tongue along Lucille's inner thigh and they moaned in unison, he kissed and sucked at the flesh there, leaving red love bites in a pathway up to the junction of her thighs. When he was almost to her concealed centre, where the scent of her arousal was so strong, Remi felt himself begin to shake with the effort it was taking to keep himself in check. He wanted her body boneless, he wanted her mindless, he wanted to arouse her beyond anything she had ever experienced before.

"The skin there," Remi raised his head slightly and inhaled the scent of her body, he groaned in satisfaction, "it's as soft as water."

The scent in the room flared and Lucille writhed on the bed, Remi felt his will - power splinter and he let it. Without touching her with his hands, Remi leaned into her, wedging his broad shoulders between her knees. He bent his head and ran his tongue up the centre of the wet, scarlet material causing Lucille to cry out and a gush of warm liquid dampened his tongue through her panties. Remi groaned at the taste and withdrew his tongue so he could lick his lips.

"Remi, Remi," Lucille chanted, her legs quivering, she had never been so aroused before in her life, she wanted to sob at how good it felt when he touched her body, she wanted to cry out at the agonising anticipation of having him inside her. Lucille imagined having the power to simply wish away his clothes, so she could feast her eyes on that beautiful flesh that lay beneath all the black. She wished that her shirt and bra were gone from her body; they hurt her sensitive breasts and skin. Most of all, she wanted the power to wish away her panties so that Remi had access to the part she wanted his mouth on most. Remi moved his mouth up a few inches and kiss her mound, nuzzling it firmly, Lucille's hands came down and found the back of his head, pushing against it. Remi laughed before he took her hands and held them to her stomach, Lucille whimpered and Remi moved his mouth up higher to the waistband of her panties. Clenching the elastic between his teeth, he began to work them easily down her smooth legs, drawing them away from the middle of her thighs and the treasures they concealed. No sooner had Lucille drew her feet from them Remi was already pushing himself between her legs again, Lucille rubbed the arch of her foot over his leather clad shoulder.

"Take off your clothes," she murmured huskily, Remi caught the foot and kissed it before settling that leg over his shoulder and he bent his head.

"Later," he whispered before he touched his kiss to her centre. Lucille shouted out as Remi's tongue swept up her cleft and touched her sensitive nub, causing a whole body spasm, he paid particular attention to it, licking, sucking and biting. All the time listening to each sound she made, knowing which action in which spot drove her further to her peak. Lucille locked her knee over his shoulder and Remi slid his hands under her buttocks to pull her forward, clenching roughly.

Remi adored her noises and was becoming almost high from the taste of her essence, he groaned against her, making her wet, slippery flesh vibrate. Lucille sobbed and pulled at the sheets so hard, they came away from the mattress, Remi took encouragement from her wildness and using his thumbs, widened her entrance so his tongue could stretch its whole length up into her. Lucille cried out as her body wound tighter and tighter, forcing noises from her that she had never made before during sex. She couldn't understand it, in her life sex had been an awful, disgusting act, an inconvenience and very rarely, just pleasant. Now, however, she felt uncontrolled and wild, she felt like she was going to splinter and lose herself into a billion sparks of sizzling light and colour and sound. It was exactly what happened. The tightening barrier burst and sent forth a rush of spiralling magic, sending her sobbing and screaming into an oblivion of ecstasy.

Remi was panting as he raised his head, he watched her body spasm with little aftershocks, kept going by his insistent fingers that had taken over from his tongue. When she opened her eyes and looked at Remi in awe, a basic kind of triumphant feeling surged through him, making him feel like twice the bear he had ever been. In that moment Remi knew he couldn't have been more primitive, even if he had gone out, caught and killed her dinner and brought it back to lay at her feet. He was in ecstasy just watching her, he briefly wondered whether he would survive the sex if this was the intensity of the foreplay but Lucille's limp leg fell from his shoulder and she sat up. Her beautiful lower half was glistening and the skin was flushed. Her hands went to his jacket and pushed it off his shoulders, Remi smiled at her before he lunged in to take her mouth with his, she fell back on to the mattress, unable to fight back against the onslaught, not that she would want to anyway.

Remi bought his hands to the neck of her shirt and tugged it apart, buttons flew and pinged off walls in every direction, the gasp of sexual excitement that came from her mouth was almost enough to make Remi come in his pants. Promising himself he was reimburse her for the loss of an outfit, he began to tear at her bra to, Lucille didn't care and made noises of appreciation to keep him going. Remi disposed of his own t-shirt in pretty much the same way, but vanished his pants from his lower body without thinking. He almost broke the kiss in shock but decided against it, knowing the best way to not freak her out was to keep her in a sexual haze. His kiss became harder in his panic and Lucille gave a gasp of surprise against his lips, but her eyes were closed and her hot, tight little body moved so fervently under him, Remi allowed himself to believe he had gotten away with it. When he was sure he was safe from discovery Remi positioned his body over Lucille's, she jumped at the contact of hot flesh against her own burning one. Lucille reached in between them reaching for Remi, thinking to give him even a modicum of the pleasure he had given her. Her hand was knocked out of the way by Remi's own that was reaching to touch her, probing her with his fingers, once more stoking the smouldering embers. Lucille's hips jerked and writhed, grinding against his hand. She couldn't believe him, she had never known, or heard of, such an unselfish lover before. It was if his only goal was to make her achieve as much pleasure as possible, putting all his needs and wants to the backseat. His finger stroked her deep and hard the way his body would soon be doing, she felt him trembling above her as if his restraint was suddenly taking its toll. Lucille longed for it to break.

"So ready for me, Cher," he whispered sexily in to her ear, biting at her lobe. Lucille ran her hands down his back and clutched at his ass, his body jerked and his voice cracked a little. "Oh yes, so … so ready for me."

Remi removed his fingers and took himself in his hand, he arranged his cock so its head was pushing and rubbing with a delicious friction against her slippery sex. He hissed abruptly as wet heat surrounded the broad tip of him, Lucille moaned and tilted her hips, ready to take his entirety. Remi could no longer wait anymore and with one hard, swift thrust he was inside her, Remi stilled when he felt her tighten as she came instantly, it took all his strength not to release himself and sweat beaded his brow. Remi wouldn't allow himself to do so; he wanted to show her the stamina that made a fully grown were-hunter like himself. Remi began to thrust, driving on her orgasm to greater heights, Lucille's hips soon learnt the rhythm and were working with his. Their bodies bloomed with sweat and the air was rife with his scent, her scent and sex, causing every inhale to make Remi grow harder and wider inside her body. The noises emitted by both of them were feral and loud, Lucille scrapped her nails down his back, leaving red welts that Remi prayed would last longer then a day. He wanted her mark on him and in a desperate effort to put his on her, his pistoning hips reached a crescendo.

Remi reared back while still inside her and brought himself up on his knees, catching Lucille behind her own, he held them while he continued to thrust, relishing the sight of her laid out before him. Her back arched, her ample breasts jutting out with her nipples ripened, were more of a turn on then anything else was. He loved being able to watch her take pleasure from his body, as it worked in and out of her own.

"Mon Dieu," he said in a strained voice, when Lucille's pink tongue appeared between her white teeth.

Lucille loved the way he was taking her, it allowed him to open her wider and thrust deeper, it also allowed her to watch his beautiful face and body while in a perfect act of love making. Lucille let her eyes peruse him at their leisure, from his broad shoulders tense with concentration, to his powerful, bulging biceps and forearms that held her legs with such ease. His broad chest was speckled with fair golden hair that trailed off into a golden line through his defined abs that made up an eight pack, past his navel and down to a wealth of blond hair between his thighs. The tapered waist and strong, muscular thighs aroused her further when she saw them and the round of his tight buttocks clenching and unclenching. The only thing that marred his flawlessness was a deep, ragged scar that went around his neck. She had never noticed it before but it looked as if he had been restrained by something, it reminded her a little of rope burn. It mattered not at all to her though, she loved him all the more for it, to Lucille he was made to perfection in every way. He was a gorgeous blond model, a dark, strong warrior, he was a sexual master and a caring, gentle lover and friend. The sex, that would have been spectacular no doubt without it, was made even more incredible by the flood of love for him that consumed her. She could barely breathe with the happiness and pleasure he was giving to her. Lucille threw her head back and screamed as she had the best orgasm of her life, not caring about the thin walls and the neighbours, her voice travelled and she was shocked that her cries of pleasure didn't have dogs barking and car alarms going off.

She was so beautiful to Remi in the throes of her ecstasy; he quickened his thrusts and allowed himself a release that left him weak and trembling. His body spasmed as he spent himself inside her, gush after gush of warm seed spilling into her, marking her, making her his. He'd never felt so sated and happy in all his life, he was physical empty and drained but emotionally he was full to bursting point. Lucille had burnt away any lingering chill inside him and he was now happily basking in the glow of their love making. Remi collapsed but had the consideration to move to her side as he did so, though he locked his arm around her and kept her secured to his side. Lucille was still breathing heavy when she rested her head upon his chest, her hand running over his skin, greedily soaking up the feel of his body beside hers, in her bed.

"Incredible," he heard her breathe and a smile of pure male satisfaction spread across his face, he held her hair out of her eyes and kissed her temple.

"Yes, it was," Remi murmured. He caught her under the chin to tilt her head up so he could kiss her lips.

"Mmm, will you stay tonight?" Lucille asked, she would normally feel stupid and needy about asking such a question but with Remi she didn't. Remi pulled back from her lips and looked as if he were thinking about what he was going to say.

"I want to, you have no idea how much I want to. But I need to get home and do some apologising," Remi grimaced like he had a bad toothache.

"To who?" Lucille sounded shocked and Remi's lips twitched, she knew him well enough to be surprised at that.

"My mother," he said unable to stop the curl of his top lip. "I chewed her out a bit before I came here."

Lucille leant up and kissed his sneer, it dissolved into a smile and Remi made a throaty purring noise when she pulled back.

"Did she deserve it?" Lucille asked, laying her head back down upon his chest. It was Remi's turn to be shocked now.

"You're actually considering the possibility that I may be right?"

Lucille slapped at him playfully, "I'd always believe you over someone else."

She said it casually but her words meant more to him then anything ever had in his life, he tightened his arms around her and held her head to his chest, so she wouldn't see his rapid blinking.

"You are something else, woman," he sighed with pleasure, "you really are. Yeah, she kind of deserved it. She's not used to people standing up to her, I think it's because all her life she's been spoilt by my father, giving her what she wants all the time. She comes to expect that kind of indulgence and reverence from the rest of us. And she gets it, but sometimes …"

Remi trailed off on a growl and Lucille laughed.

"Its okay, you go home and make the peace with your mother, try to stay out of trouble and I'll see you tomorrow."

Lucille looked up at him with a small, playful pout on her face that was utterly adorable, Remi took her hand in his and moved it to his hardened sex.

"I'm not going yet."

Lucille beamed at him and began to work him in her hand, he caught his breath in his chest as he stared at her while she caressed him. Remi felt like he had just reached heaven, the only dark cloud that threatened his parade was that he could never spend the night with her, because he would morph into his natural form of a bear as soon as sleep came upon him.

He couldn't think of how he was going to get round it. She would want him to actually sleep with her in the bed, and so would he. And when he couldn't she'd eventually get worried about why. How could he possibly continue a relationship with her when he had so little to offer her in the way of normality? Worse then that was the ever present truth that should he tell her exactly what he was, she would fear him and be disgusted that she had slept with an animal. She'd run from him and shut him out of her life, away from her beautiful sunshine and warmth. His personality alone, without him being a were-hunter, would be the cause of strain in the relationship, how could she cope with that and him being a bear?

Should she turn away from him and run, he would let her, Remi was certain of that. But he was also equally as certain of the fact that he would kill another man that tried to touch her. She could belong to no other. The thought of her one day allowing another man to slip inside her every day and night was enough to make Remi punch holes through things. Closing his eyes against a rush of sharp pain Remi rolled over with Lucille until she was under him again and slipped inside of her.

"I can't believe you're hard again so soon," she whispered, almost to herself. Remi stilled inside her and leant down so he could nuzzle his cheek, mouth and nose to her face, he wasn't aware of how much love he was capable of holding inside of him. If he was worthless at everything else, his love for her was one thing he could surpass all others in, it didn't even match his ability to fight or his temper, which were both phenomenal.

"I just want to please you," he whispered back to her and watched as Lucille's eyes clouded, she raised her head slowly from the pillow and kissed his thoroughly.

"You could never displease me, Remi," Lucille assured him and worked her hips against him in a slow, seductive roll that had him gasping for air and praying for mercy.

"Mon Dieu!" he hissed, "I love you!"


	8. Chapter 8

Lucille was still breathing hard five minutes after Remi rolled off of her for like the umpteenth time, and she stared out into the steel grey coloured sky that always proceeded dawn. She felt incredible, he was incredible, the night had been … spectacular! She stretched her arms out and it came into contact with Remi's side of the bed, empty but still warm. She couldn't help a big, stupid grin from spreading across her face, she felt used and bruised and sore, and limber and floppy and loved and happy. She heard the water shut off in her small closet sized bathroom and looked towards the door, which she could see from where she lay in bed. She'd wanted to get up and get frisky in the shower, but as she had waited for him to turn on the water she'd felt herself slipping into a doze. Lucille decided she'd surprise him with that another day; she was sure as hell there would be more. Call her needy, possessive, a stalker, but she never wanted to let him go and most of all,she loved that Remi seemed like he didn't want to be let go of. The times she showed that rather needy, insecure side of herself, his smile seemed to brighten and he'd hold on to her that bit tighter. The door opened but no light spilled out to make her squint and blink, Remi stepped out wrapped in a towel that hung low on his hips, Lucille leant up on her elbows and bit her bottom lip.

"Did I wake you?" he said, looking contrite, "I kept the light off just in case."

Lucille's heart did a little flutter as she shook her head, how could one man be so wonderful?

"You didn't wake me," she said, her voice a little husky, Remi felt his body stir at the sound, Lucille lifted her hand and held it out to him, beckoning him to her side. Remi went willingly, like a puppy given an order by its owner, he was so owned right now! If showering in the dark wasn't a sign of being whipped he didn't know what was. Remi sat down on the side of the bed and she turned on her side, her fingers walking up the line between his muscles on his back. Remi shivered and his body went into overdrive, his erection hit his towel, making a tent out of it, his first thought was to hide it but he stopped himself. He wanted to let her know what she did to him, he looked down at her face that was set with deep concentration, he felt her fingers trace the ridges of his scars.

"What are you thinking, bébé?" Remi murmured, Lucille looked up at his face and smiled warmly, Remi could not describe what it did to him. It reminded him of the warm glow of a candles flame, the ambiance it created in a darkened room on a cold night. Yeah, he was becoming a complete chick when it came to her, he couldn't think of when his mind had ever been sappier. Lucille sat up and the white sheet dropped away from her honeyed breasts, Remi's breath caught. Still, he thought, no one has to know. She lifted her hand to sweep his damp curls away from his face and Remi almost purred.

"I was just thinking that I never expected to end up loving a bad boy," Lucille said on a laugh, Remi gave her a boyish grin and lowered his eyes; though she had a feeling he was pleased with himself. "Oh my God!" She laughed louder, "are you blushing?"

Remi laughed and grimaced at the same time. "Don't tell me you're into the whole tame the bad boy thing."

Lucille wrinkled her nose, looking cute. "No, I tried to do that in my rebel days. Besides," Lucille leant up kiss his bicep. "I don't think you need to be tamed, I'm happy just loving you. And having you love me."

Remi felt his heart turn to mush, was there a cure for this type of thing? Could he be in deeper if he possibly tried? Remi pushed at Lucile's legs and she scooted over, he turned and swung his legs on to the bed again, his towel sliding open. This time, however, he made no move to mount her, instead he eased his head down between her breasts and she let him stay there. He felt the beat of her heart against his ear and felt the sigh push from her chest that echoed his own, he encircled her breast with his one hand and simply cradled it.

"And that is exactly why you have."

Remi would have loved to give into the feeling of deep peace and relaxation and allow it and the scent of his lover to lead him to sleep. And to dreams. But he couldn't, he was exhausted, so many times during the intervals when they weren't talking or making love or eating, Remi had felt himself ready to follow Lucille into sleep.

Remi stayed in his haven as long as his body would allow, but after a while the golden light of morning streamed through, and using his magic, Remi did something he hadn't done in many years. The curtains drifted slowly together and blocked out the sunrise, encasing them in darkness again. Still he could not hide from the effects the dawn was having upon him, lack of sleep coupled with the draining power of daylight was sucking up his magic, he couldn't stay in human form much longer. Getting up Remi quickly got dressed the human way and wrote Lucille a note, grinning he left it somewhere she would definitely find it and went around the flat, checking the windows were all secure. Lucille's shift didn't start until about one thirty, so she could still catch a good forty winks before having to go into work, which made Remi happy because he hated the thought of her being exhausted. He was taking one last examining look over the living room when a sharp, burning pain cutting across his palm had him hissing obscenities. Remi clenched his hand into a fist and kept his eyes shut, panting through his nose, Remi almost felt the floor move out from under him. How could this be possible? She was human! He loved her with all his heart and there was nothing more he wanted then to tie her irrevocably to his side, yet the sudden surge of adrenaline caused by the shock was making him feel nauseous. Remi blew out a deep breath and trembled as he raised his fist to eye level, another breath and Remi forced open his eyes and spread his hand. Branded into his palm was that small, geometric pattern that had changed the lives of many were-hunters throughout history.

Remi let out a shaky laugh, he knew that he should be fearful and panicked about how he was going to pull off a mating with a human, but he just couldn't muster those feelings. Tracing the mark reverently with the tip of his finger, all Remi could think was how he now had a legitimate tie to Lucille, that this mark told him and the rest of the world that, no matter how much it defied possibilities and facts, Lucille was meant to be his. Turning quickly on his heel, Remi marched back into Lucille's bedroom and knelt by her bed. Her arm was lying out upon the quilt with her inner wrist facing the ceiling, her slim, delicate fingers were slightly curled in concealing her palm. Remi gently ran his own fingers over the heel of her palm and up, catching her fingers and carefully prying them back so as not to wake her.

_Mine!_

There in her beautiful hand was an identical mark to his, he'd never expected anything else but he'd had to see it. It looked beautiful. Remi bent his head slowly and laid his lips against the mark, pressing light kisses to her skin. He heard Lucille moan lightly in her sleep and turn to face him fully, Remi didn't want her to wake and didn't want her to move, she was like an exquisite painting, so elegant and refined. No doubt he'd scare the life out of her if she woke to find him gazing at her like this, with a final kiss, one to her palm and the other to her lips, Remi stood up and flashed himself to Sanctuary.

*******************************************

Dev looked up from the table where he sat, having a last snack with Sera before heading to bed for the day, as Remi strolled through the door. He completely ignored them and moved to the fridge, which he promptly stuck his head in. Dev let Sera go on up to bed while he continued to wait for Remi to stop looking for food, which he was becoming suspicious about since Remi had had his head submerged in there for over a minute.

"You know, there are only a limited number of spaces where food can be put in that thing," Dev said casually, trying to work food from his teeth with his tongue.

"Your fucking point is?" Came Remi's characteristic response.

"Point being that there are only so many places to look. So take your fat head out of there and look at me."

Remi lifted his head to glare over the door of the refrigerator and Dev raised his eyebrow, Remi heaved a sigh and shut the door. He leant back against it and folded his muscular arms over his broad chest.

"Something on your mind?"

Dev sighed, as always Remi was on the defensive, readying himself for a fight.

"Just you."

"Save it for your mate," Remi sneered and was about to stalk out of the kitchen when Dev grabbed his arm. Remi whirled blindly, throwing a punch which Dev, anticipating a classic Remi move, ducked with ease. He moved away with a grin then sniffed up and went absolutely still, Remi was breathing hard through his mouth, not from exertion but from sudden apprehension.

"Who?" Dev said as if his throat was dry, Remi looked away from his brother's eyes, scrubbing his fingers through his already tousled hair. Dev's eyes glinted dangerously as he inhaled again deeply. "You reek of human."

"Likewise," Remi said scathingly, but Dev would not be deterred.

"Not Arcadian. Human. You've been fucking the human!"

Remi roared ferociously before advancing on Dev, looking so utterly menacing and deranged, that his brother took three swift steps back.

"Her name is Lucille!" He rumbled, absolutely seething with rage, "and don't you ever, ever use those words in the same sentence with her!"

Dev's face was entirely deadpan when he said, "what fucking or human?"

Remi roared and went for Dev, as if were going to take him down with a rugby tackle, Dev dodged out the way immediately. He was panting and laughing as the adrenaline coursed through him, it was like poking a deadly rattle snake, thrilling yet terrifying.

"It was a joke, it was a joke!" Dev cried hastily, still having nervous attacks of the giggles. Remi exhaled sharply through his nose, sounding like an aggravated bull, he paced in front of his brother and Dev settled himself back against the counter. Remi had to admit, a part of him was happy Dev had found out, mated to an Arcadian Dev might have something useful to offer to Remi's dilemma. The guy was just an expert on taking the joke to far and getting people riled up, even his mate, who in Remi's opinion had the patience of a saint to put up with his smart-ass brother. Then Sera was no picnic herself.

"Is it the one I think it is?" Dev asked and Remi settled himself on the counter catty-corner to Dev and nodded. Remi felt his skin literally tingle at the thought of Lucille, still tucked up safely in bed. His mate.

"What did you tell her?" Dev asked.

"What do you mean?" Remi said tiredly, about to drop off where he sat.

"Um, gee, let me think … could it be the sudden burning in her palm and the appearance of a certain portent of doom?" Dev gave Remi a duh look. "No, now I think about it, that's not obvious enough."

"You had me at portent of doom," Remi said dryly, "which by the way, I'll be telling Sera about - that being said, major overkill with the sarcasm."

"Says the king of sarcasm?" Dev said indignantly, stinging more from the fact that Remi hadn't been impressed with his wit.

"I use it with more finesse," Remi said again and began to yawn when Colt came strutting in, having just gotten out of bed, Colt rubbed his eye with the heel of his palm and squinted at them through his other shrewd, brown eye.

"What's a portent of doom?" he muttered more out of habit then actual curiosity.

"Nosy bastard Arcadians," Remi muttered, surprised at how cool he was feeling about Dev finding out, and the rest of his family, with the exception of Kyle, weren't stupid. Soon they would figure out he was mated, the only thing he was a little fizzed about, was his family knew he was going to be - Remi hesitated to think the word married - mated before his mate.

"Vaffanculo," Colt muttered and Dev made a disgusted sound at the foreign curse.

"You've been talking to that damn squire again. Tell Carvalletti that the Italian language is crude and obsolete in the face of la Français -" he then rattled off a string of obscene curses in French, so bad were they that Colt grimaced and Remi gave him a nod of appreciation.

Colt ignored him and stuck his head in the fridge, Remi knew what was about to happen. The sound of Colt sniffing at food abruptly cut off and Dev began to grin, when their Arcadian brother's head slowly appeared over the top of the refrigerator door. Colt looked behind him at Dev, and as testament to his shock, even checked himself for a mating mark.

"Holy shit!" he whispered, looking at Remi as if the bear had just introduced himself as the Virgin Mary.

"That's what I said," Dev said happily.

"No you didn't," Remi snapped.

"Holy shit!"

Remi slid a droll look back to Colt then kicked the door of the fridge, it snapped shut on the bear's fingers, he pulled them out with a curse and continued to stare at Remi.

"Is he in a coma or some shit?" Remi asked Dev who just shrugged.

"First of all -" Colt said furiously, holding up his throbbing fingers, "you're a dick! And second … first him and now you? Two of the biggest sluts and the meanest, ornery bastard around, meaning you by the way, have been mated!"

Colt looked completely offended. "What happened to the fucking rule that says good things happen to good people?"

"Oh, I don't know," Dev said with a grin, "I think we're pretty good examples of that. What say you, brother?"

"They used to call me the patron saint of Madame Amelia's," Remi commented and Dev almost cracked a rib laughing, Colt paused and looked confused.

"Wasn't that a brothel in Victorian London?"

Remi just grinned.

Colt gave a reluctant laugh and shrugged, he came nearer to Remi and held out his hand, Remi took it and Colt clapped him on the shoulder.

"Congrats man," Colt said simply and turned back to find something to eat. Remi couldn't help feeling rather warm towards Colt in that moment, it had been, Remi realised, what he'd been waiting for. Someone who knew the seriousness of the mating situation, to be genuinely happy for him and accepting of the situation, God knew Remi was happy enough for both he and Lucille. Now the problem was how to tell her she was sleeping with a bear?

"Have you told her yet?" Colt asked, before Remi could answer someone else sashayed into the room. It was their mother. She eyed them all beadily and something told Remi she had followed Colt just to be nosy, Remi ground his teeth, he suddenly wasn't in the mood to apologise anymore.

Colt and Dev exchanged shifty looks before glancing warily at Remi, then at Nicolette and then to the floor. This did not go unnoticed by their mother, who moved farther into the room with the express intention of discovering what they were talking about. She didn't need to wait long, Remi refused to cover his scent and therefore left it rife in the air, human and the mating mark. Mama Lo's eyes narrowed and her lips thinned until they were white and pressed tightly together in a stern line. Her shrewd eyes darted between Colt and Remi, she could tell by the scent which of the two it was, but somehow her mind could not accept it.

"Which of you is it?" She said tightly, like she was having trouble getting the words past her throat. Dev knew he was excluded from her question but still shook his head anyway, Colt shook his head slowly, watching Mama Lo with a strange expression on his face. It could only be described as gravely expectant, of what, Remi wasn't going to try and guess at. One thing he had learnt in all the years he'd lived with Colt was that the Arcadian was pretty deep.

"Who?" she said shortly, but Remi did not bother to answer, she knew already, they all knew that their was only one person it could be. Remi saw the knowledge in her eyes and when she let out a harsh curse in French he stiffened, Dev, watching Remi closely, tensed while waiting for his reaction but nothing came. Colt on the other hand watched Mama Lo, his eyes darkening with a different, deeper kind of emotion that was again indefinable.

"The pair of you out! Now!" she snapped not looking at them, Colt and Dev left reluctantly, and when they had gone Mama Lo threw the door closed with her powers. Remi didn't even wince at the sound, he simply waited and stared, a mocking amusement on his face that was somewhat menacing, as if he were daring her to say the wrong thing. Intuitively Nicolette knew to tread carefully, her son had changed enough this past year that she too had lost her control over him, if she ever had any at all. Still Nicolette could not bring herself to admit that perhaps he truly cared for this human, was he capable of it? That was indeed an awful thing to think about one's child, and she thanked the Gods everyday that it was a thought that had only ever stayed in her head. She wanted to know how it was possible that her son, Remi, who was known for feats of unrivalled aggressiveness and violence, could possibly love something as fragile and inferior as a human.

Nicolette ground her teeth as she thought of it, in general she liked humans, but there was a vast difference to liking them and having them in the family. Trust Remi to bring one home.

"I am right in saying that the human from the kitchens is the one, oui?"

"Oui." Remi said rather casually but there was the fire of defiance in his eyes.

"A human, Remi!" Nicolette suddenly could not contain her fury. "Pour l'amour d'un Dieu!"

"Be careful, maman. I won't have anyone, even you, disrespecting my mate," Remi rumbled out, and was satisfied that he had given her fair warning, anything she said or did after this was her own fault.

"You hate humans!" Nicolette cried, her cheeks slashed with red blush, a display of her rising anger.

"Arcadians," Remi corrected her, "with the exception of Colt."

"Remi, be serious! How can you possibly have let this happen?"

"How was I supposed to prevent it, maman?" Remi could not quite believe how calm he was, then again, coming straight from Lucille's arms and being exhausted, did put him in quite a docile mood. He waited, but when it was clear that she was too embarrassed to answer, knowing surely that her argument had been illogical and stupid, Remi continued. "The fates choose our mates, not us, as you well know. Its also believed to be nigh on impossible for a Katagaria and a regular human to successfully mate, as you well know. You don't know, however, that should I been aware that we were destined to be mates … I would have made love to her sooner."

Remi watched his mother's blood boil beneath the skin of her face, causing her to turn a dangerous red, he got a kick out of it too. He wanted to rage at her for not congratulating him on his mating, on asking how she could help, when she could formally meet his Lucille. But oh no, not Nicolette Peltier, that would be a little too easy.

Nicolette gabbled on in French and Remi listened to her, feeling his temper rise every moment as he heard her words of disbelief, worry and disgust.

"What is your problem?" Remi burst out, flying down from his position where he was seated on the counter. He walked up to his mother and for the first time in his life was ever so disrespectful as to get in his mother's face and stare her down. "What the fuck is your problem with me being happily mated to Lucille?!"

"She is human, you fool!" Nicolette erupted, "not Arcadian, human! How is she going to accept what you are, it will drive her insane!"

"She loves me and she will be mine, and that is the end of it. She'll accept who and what I am, despite you wanting for it to be different!"

"Shut up and listen to yourself! Your ridiculous!" Nicolette shouted back at him, neither realising that their voices were resounding off the kitchen walls, reaching to the highest levels of the house. "She could not imagine the kind of world we live in in her wildest dreams. You think that these human women that read stupid romance books of loving were-wolves and vampires could actually cope with the reality of it? If you do then you are more deluded then they are! She is human, you are animal, that is the end of it! How could you be so unfair as to drag her into a world she doesn't belong in or understand?"

"Oh, take yourself off of that fucking pedestal and stop acting so righteous! You expect me to believe you actually give two shits about Lucille's well being? Dream on, woman, I was on to you a long time ago, I just refused to acknowledge what a cold-hearted, unfeeling, merciless harpie you really are!"

Nicolette drew back her fist to land one on Remi's face but he caught it as it flew and he held it while he threw every truth and lie and feeling back in her face.

"You don't care about her! You don't care about me! You just hate the thought of having a human in the family and that's what's up your ass! Its okay for them to be mated to others but not one of the family, the Peltier's can't have that, can they? So what happens now that your perfect vision of yourself has fallen on its ass, mom? We all know what a liar and a hypocrite you are now… you know it, we know it. Sanctuary is bullshit, its founded on bullshit! You don't want those lodgers here, you don't want anyone here, because you can't control all of them and that drives you up the wall! That's why you hated Wren, that's why you don't want Aimee to see Fang, why you couldn't stand for Dev to be with Sera."

Nicolette broke away from him with a shriek, she livid, her face a picture of white hot fury. Remi was angry too, but it was mixed with a savage kind of joy and an unbearable hurt, how he could feel all these things at once and be as calm as he was, was beyond him. But he was speaking the truth and as much as he enjoyed telling it to his mother, he had finally come to realise that she was as flawed as the rest of them. It was, indeed, a sad day.

"You go to far," Nicolette trembled with her rage, her voice shaking, "I want you out of my house! How dare you speak to me this way. I want you gone from here. Go to your human if she'll have you!"

"I'll stay as long as I please. This is Sanctuary, isn't it, maman?" Remi said sardonically, "appearances must be upheld. Wouldn't want people to think you bend the rules now, would we?"

Nicolette seethed silently and Remi curled his lip into a sneer, the gulf between them was wide and gaping even though they were but feet apart. Remi could feel it happening even if he couldn't see it, but he could almost hear the ledges crumbling away, making more and more space in the divide.

"She will expose us all and it will be entirely your fault!" Nicolette was hoarse from shouting at her son, but even if her voice gave out she would find a way to say her piece. "You haven't even told her yet because you know in your heart she could not accept you."

"Yes, she will!" Remi growled, feeling like a scratched record, going over and over the same things, "she loves me enough -"

"She loves the man she thinks you are! But your not a man, Remi, you're an animal, a bear, a were-hunter! And even if you weren't, how could she grow to accept you and love you for what you truly are, when you don't even know how to love?"

Remi's head snapped back as if he'd been struck, it cut him to the bone, perhaps because he had wondered the same thing himself.

"I'm not saying an of this to hurt you, Remi, despite what you think. But a human cannot face the reality of what we are." Mama Lo sounded weary now. But Remi's heart did not soften, he wondered if he could ever look at his mother again without a cynical shade over his eyes and heart? Forever wondering whether the love she professes to have for them all was true?

"But we both know you have never in your life been capable of loving anyone. Your violent nature, your streak of … of selfishness, has she had to face that yet?"

Remi made a move to go around his mother who's back was to the door, she watched him go.

"You have many good qualities about you, Remi, ones that all bearswain wish they possessed. But is it what the human wants?"

"Her name is Lucille," Remi said, his hand braced against the door jamb. "I don't know what you want me to do? What can I do? I have been mated to a human, even if I did not love her, what could I possibly do about it?"

"You could appeal to Savitar -" she suggested tentatively but cut off when Remi growled ferociously and stalked out of the kitchen, she heard the stairs creak as he made his way to his room. Nicolette let her head fall into her hands and she began to weep, her heart had truly broken. She'd not meant to say the things she had about Remi, they were things that were meant to stay in her mind, locked away from everyone, even herself. But she had said them to her son - to her son! And had possibly broke his heart as well. But it was for the best, a human could not handle what he was, what they were. They weren't humans with special powers, they were essentially animals with powers. And what if she decided to go to the police? She would end up in an asylum. And what if they believed her? They would end up somewhere under the pokes and prods of a Dr. Jekyll type character with a scalpel and microscope. She'd already lost two sons, she could not afford for any of her family to be hurt, that's why she needed the control and power, she needed to protect and she could only do that if she controlled. This Lucille could not possibly want Remi, not with the way he was, his family may love him but Mama Lo was under no illusions. Young girls may draw to him, and why not? He was handsome, rich, dangerous, sexy, he had the bad boy image every girl wanted to play with, but he was not the type they took home, ever. How could she possibly love him, when it was obvious that only his family did?

This wouldn't do. Remi needed to be shown the light, and fast. Nicolette left the kitchen, her mind mauling over her plans, they were reckless to be sure. But it was all to help Remi. And that was the only thing that mattered.


	9. Chapter 9

**(Haven't written this in a while so I will now: thanks for the reviews everyone! So glad you like it.)**

Lucille blinked open her eyes, once, twice, and all she could see was yellow. Not a yellow light or an object that was yellow, she literally could not see anything but the colour yellow. Panicked she reached up to touch her eyes and her hand knocked away the yellow blindness, Lucille frowned and sat up, she looked at the post-it note, grinning but feeling a little silly.

_A night to remember or what?_

_We are so doing that again …_

_Can't wait to see you later in work. _

_No sitting on windowsills while I'm gone … Please?_

_I love you, baby. _

_Remi_

Lucille laughed happily feeling too elated to feel foolish as she buried her face in her pillow and let out a scream of pure delight. She got up out of bed and showered quickly, she was dancing around the house in a flurry of excitement. Arms and legs flaying about as she did clumsy ballerina twirls and stupid disco moves to the radio, Lucille caught sight of herself in the full length mirror and blushed. She moved closer and inspected this strange new phenomenon, who the person was staring back at her was, wearing nothing but cheekily polka dotted panties with bows on them, she had no clue. She was dying to meet her. It was a marvellous and weird thing that love was, Lucille looked at herself and saw a brighter smile, a slimmer waist, bright eyes, cute freckles, radiant skin, replacing what she'd always considered to be a flabby workaholic with worry lines around her eyes and mouth. Lucille suddenly felt like the twenty-six year old she should be, in actual fact, she felt like the eighteen year old she should have been. Lucille put her palms to her cheeks and felt a certain roughness on her palm, frowning she looked down and was stunned to see an intricate little design branded in her skin. She rubbed at it, gingerly at first, but it didn't hurt and it didn't come off. It was the strangest thing she'd ever seen, but how in the hell had it got there? A few slightly scary scenarios, that included Remi, ran through her head, but she quickly dismissed them. Lucille decided to put it at the back of her mind for now, and simply blame it on a freak occurrence. Lucille unconsciously humming the wedding march while she dressed with exquisite care, making sure that her clothes were pressed immaculately, her shoes had more of a shine, she took longer on her hair and make-up then usual. The end result made her smile her bright new smile even wider, now all she needed was for Remi to see her, no doubt he was still sleeping, he'd looked wrecked this morning as if he hadn't even slept a little like she had.

Lucille grabbed her bag from the side and was making a quick assessment of the necessities, "got keys, got phone. Got money, got tissues. Earrings are in, make-up is on …"

Lucille clucked her tongue and scanned the room before her, even as she got to the door she was still rechecking her bag and her outfit, she was so scatterbrained and happy this afternoon Lucille wasn't sure of anything, except that she wanted to get to work and see - she almost giggled with delight - her _boyfriend_!

Lucille turned to walk out the door and let out a scream, her hand going to her mouth, she lowered it quickly and stared wide eyed at the gaunt young woman on her door step.

"Oh my god, Janet," Lucille stretched out her arms towards her sister, as if to take her in them and cradle her, but she didn't touch Janet; Janet didn't like to be touched. She was on the drugs again; Lucille could tell that from just looking at her. She had transformed from the attractive teenager that Lucille knew most to a decrepit stranger. A year or so ago, Lucille was sure Janet was dragging herself out of it; she'd even had a steady boyfriend. Obviously she'd relapsed and she was now at her worst. Her pock marked, sallow skin was a dirty yellow around one corner of her mouth, and bluish purple around her left eye, she'd been beaten. She wore oversized, ragged jeans which hung off of grotesquely thin hips, a vest top that was a colour Lucille wasn't going to put a name to. If she had it she would have called it something like day old vomit. The man's shirt that Janet had thrown on top of all of this may at one time been green but it seemed to have faded or been accidentally died to a horrid greyish colour and the tails of that shirt fluttered around Janet's knees. Everything was so baggy, like the clothes one would use on a scarecrow, but then, Lucille reasoned, Janet could buy her clothes from Mother Care and they'd still be too big. It was a habit with junkies; they lost weight along with all their good sense.

"Can I come in?" Janet asked quietly; hopefully. Wiping her nose on the cuff of her shirt, she tried to muster up a smile for her little sister, but all she could manage was a trembling, watery grimace. Lucille jerked out of her shocked stupor and held the door open wide immediately.

"Of course you can," she said quietly, her heart aching. Janet stepped inside, her head was bowed down, her eyes fixed to the carpet and her curtain of straggly blondish hair hide her face from view, just the way she wanted it too. What hurt Lucille most about Janet's life was that her sister was not a bad person, she simply could not cope with what had happened to her. Janet was fully aware of what she was and how society viewed her, and unlike many of her counterparts in the world, it shamed her. Lucille noticed that her sister moved in slow, very deliberate movements with her arms wrapped tightly over her upper body, acting as both shield and cage, they held her trembling, weak frame together and closed her off from any unwanted physical contact. But her sister moved as if she didn't want to touch things, as if she felt that she was dirty and soiled. Lucille felt her chest physically ache.

"Come and sit down," Lucille walked with her slowly into her living room, and waved her on to the couch, then sat beside her, far enough away so she didn't touch her. Lucille waited a beat then asked in a quiet voice, "what's happened? What's wrong?"

Janet shook her head slowly and picked at the frayed tear in her knee. "Nothing. I just, erm, I just thought I could come and see you."

Janet's voice shook, Lucille could see her eyes becoming wet and her lip trembling, she wanted so badly to reach out and touch her sister. "Your welcome here any time, day or night, you know that."

Janet sniffed pathetically while nodding her head with the same deliberate slowness. "Have you thought anymore about rehab, Jan?"

Janet stayed quiet, she looked to the table beside the couch and for the first time since she arrived touched something of Lucille's. It was a hard backed copy of _Jane Eyre_, it was worn and it was scuffed at the edges, but it had been well used and loved. Lucille watched Janet's grubby, bitten finger stroke the cover gently, and remembered how she had lost herself in it for days even after she'd finished it, imagining herself as Jane and Mr Rochester loving her the way he loved his 'little mustard seed'.

"Do you still read a lot, Luce?" Janet murmured and Janet nodded, then realising Janet wasn't looking at her cleared her throat and answered.

"Yeah, I do. But I don't get a lot of time. Work, you know." Janet nodded, but she didn't know. She had never worked, could never hold down a job, between her habit and her neurotic behaviour, she was hardly a candidate for employee of the month.

"Sorry about the hospital thing," Janet muttered. "I -"

"Forget it, Jan. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

"Why?"

"Because you're my big sister," Lucille stressed, and Janet looked her in the eye for the first time. She gave her a ghost of a real smile and Lucille wondered whether she may just be able to break through and reach her sister. This time, after so many times.

"Are you happy, Luce?" Janet asked and Lucille was taken aback by it, she'd never expected Janet to say something like that. It was too deep a question that required too deep an answer. Lucille was about to reply with her characteristic response to a question like that and say something flippant like; 'I have what I need' or 'More then I could hope for'. But her min turned to Remi and the love they'd made last night, the way he'd held her and whispered to her, it brought a bitter sweet pain to her chest knowing her sister would never know such joy.

"Very," Lucille answered and Janet smiled for real this time, showing browning teeth.

"I'll be going away soon, Luce. Possibly for a long time," Janet said and Lucille felt her heart rate pick up.

"Oh shit, Jan. Not jail again?"

"No, not jail," Janet replied very calmly and that made Lucille's mind race, without meaning to she clutched Janet's wrist. Janet hissed and recoiled and so did Lucille.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry," Lucille was breathing hard now, "what do you mean? Are you in trouble with someone? Someone who'll hurt you, you mean? A gang? Drug dealer? … Pimp?"

Still Janet shook her head. "No, none of that. I'm just going away. You won't hear from me for a while but I don't want you to be worried. I'm leaving you something, okay? Something I only trust you with, okay?"

"What is it?" Lucille asked, but Janet shook her head.

"It's special to me. But it can only be you, nobody else. Promise?"

"Promise."

Lucille nodded, her heart beat still pounding in her ears, her head felt like it was spinning. What exactly was she promising; she had no idea what this special thing was. She needed to talk to someone; she really wanted to talk to Remi. Remi … Work! Shit!

Lucille stood up abruptly and looked at the clock, it wasn't too bad, if she hurried she would only be five minutes late and she could blame that on traffic.

"Janet, listen, I have to get to work," Lucille said quickly, picking up her bag once more, "stay here, eat, drink, use anything you want, okay. I will be back later on tonight. I'll call you in about an hour or so to see if you're okay, okay?"

Janet smiled weakly and nodded, Lucille paused, she would have liked to have kissed her sister goodbye on the cheek but she didn't; Janet didn't like to be touched.

"Well, I'll see you tonight," Lucille said awkwardly and raced out the door, a part of her was a little miffed at Janet's unexpected arrival, she'd wanted another night alone with Remi. But the other part of her, the ever hopeful part, was wondering whether this could be the time where Janet cleans up and starts living. She prayed it was the latter.

************************************

Lucille's shift started at one o clock, she raced through the door of Sanctuary tying her apron around her at quarter past. She dumped her bag and coat in the closet and sprinted into the kitchen, the remnants of the lunch hour were still being tidied away and the last shift workers were just filtering out the back way. Red faced and panting, Lucille braced her arms against the counter top and let her head hang on her neck, her lungs felt dry and she wanted to cough but air seemed scarce. A slender hand appeared in front of her face holding a long glass of chilled lemonade, Lucille grabbed it with an inhuman noise, he flicked her eyes towards Jadine over the glass rim and gave her a thumbs up.

"You look like you needed a cooling off," she said with half a laugh, and leant her rapidly jellying butt on the counter edge. Lucille gave a grateful sigh and put the glass down, too tired to wipe the wet moustache the drink had left, Jadine rolled her eyes and threw Lucille a napkin.

"Did anyone notice I was late, do you think?" Lucille said, trying to master her breathing enough to talk in one breath.

"Nah, you're good. Besides your not really late, I got here about a minute or so before you did."

"Good. I thought I was in for an ass whupping," Lucille muttered and began to clear her tabletops, and arrange her utensils.

"Mama Lo isn't that bad, Lucille," Jadine laughed with a shake of the head, "you know what your problem is? You're too used to being under pressure, things are a lot more easy going here. Trust me, aside from your boy - who I got something to tell you about by the way - the Peltiers are good people."

Lucille nodded and watched Jadine waddling away with her hand on her distended stomach. "Are you going to be alright? Its kind of humid today, I don't want you going over on me."

Jadine waved her hand dismissively at Lucille and said nothing, Lucille began to take off her ring and earrings so they didn't slip off and end up in someone's Caesar salad.

"What you got to tell me about Remi anyway?" Lucille asked as she walked back towards her bag to deposit her jewellery. Jadine turned to face her and made a strange coughing noise, Lucille looked over her shoulder and saw Nicolette Peltier standing in the doorway. Lucille rarely came into contact with the older woman, in fact she had contact with no one from work, except Remi and the kitchen staff. Having always completed a job to satisfactory standards, Lucille could not place the reason for Nicolette's harsh, stern expression as she gazed at Jadine and herself.

"You're late," Nicolette snapped briskly, Jadine glanced wide-eyed at Lucille, who exchanged the look with one of her own. So much for the "things are a lot more easy going here" crap.

"Err, yes ma'am," Lucille said neutrally, "but only a few minutes. I had an unexpected family matter that came up at home."

"That isn't my problem," she said briskly, though not unkindly, "I expect my staff to be on time. We're a busy establishment, I require impeccable standards from my staff if it is to run smoothly."

"It won't happen again, I can assure you Mrs Peltier," Lucille said demurely, but it cut no ice.

"Come with me," Nicolette said and strode out of the kitchen, Jadine gaped and looked at Lucille who gave her a shrug and followed.

Nicolette led Lucille through the connecting door that went through to the Peltier house, ignoring Jasyn and Justin's stunned, apprehensive stares. She opened the door to her personal study and advanced into a spacious, slightly Victorian looking room with bookcases lining the walls and dark leather and wood furniture. It was very different from the small, dimly lit room Lucille had filled out her employment forms in when she had first come to Sanctuary. Lucille followed her and waited in front of the desk while Nicolette settled herself behind it, Nicolette folded her hands upon the desk and stared Lucille down. Lucille, surprisingly, was not in the least bit intimidated by Nicolette, she should be, she knew that much. She needed this job and if Janet was going to be staying for a while she would need the money, some people would say Lucille felt safe because she was shagging the Boss's son, but that was not it at all.

Lucille allowed Nicolette to stare at her until she became a little annoyed.

"Is there something you wanted to see me about?" Nicolette's frown darkened.

"You were late and now you're rude," Nicolette said, her French accent accentuating the snobbery in her tone. "You can't like this job very much. Your doing all you can to rid yourself of it."

Lucille stayed silent, she had a feeling this irritated Nicolette and that pleased her.

"Why do you think I've brought you here?" Lucille considered for a moment, debating whether she should say what she thought. Instead she decided on a half truth on why she thought she was in the office.

"It's not because of my being late, I know that much."

"How do you know that?"

Lucille didn't miss a beat. "Because you're not that petty and I'm not that stupid."

Nicolette grudgingly gave into an icy smile, the child had gumption, she'd give her that.

Call it woman's intuition or call a sixth sense but Lucille knew that this little tête-à-tête was not about her lateness or the standard of her work. No, this was about Remi. His mother was going to tell her to stay away from him, Lucille was firstly mortally offended at the implication that she was not good enough, and secondly because Nicolette had the idea that she would back off from him simply because she had been - or would soon be - told to do so. Lucille had been thrown directly into the lions den so many times in her career as a lawyer that facing down Nicolette Peltier didn't feel like the end of the world. She'd been grilled by high flying lawyers in make or break situations and had always come up smelling of roses, and that was when she was only an apprentice. She told Nicolette this in a neutral voice that was not in anyway boastful, but simply matter of fact. Nicolette listened to her in stony silence her face grave and expressionless.

"What I'm basically saying," Lucille concluded, with a touch of smile to her voice and lips, "is though you are a very formidable woman, and I do need this job -" Lucille debated how to say her final piece, then just let it out. "I'm not afraid of you."

"Is that so?" Nicolette asked coldly. Lucille paused and then nodded, it was the truth, and another truth was she was not prepared to give Remi up simply because his mother didn't like her. God only knew why Nicolette didn't like her, but that was irrelevant as far as Lucille was concerned.

"So then you know, if you are as smart as you say you are, we are here to discuss your affair with my son?" Nicolette said casually as she got up from behind the desk and faced Lucille on her feet, Lucille nodded again feeling like a doggy on a dashboard.

"You've known him what a month? A month and a half? Is that really enough time to decide on his nature?"

Lucille frowned at the woman's logic, as a lawyer her cases had to be based on sound logic and she used that approach sometimes in her life.

"Surely the way to know someone's nature is to spend time with them. And that being said, we're … dating. He hasn't asked me to marry him."

"But you would if he did!" Nicolette hissed, her icy exterior melting away to reveal boiling venom, Lucille blushed but nodded anyway.

"Yes, I would. I love him."

"Has he told you?" Nicolette said spitefully and she watched Lucille grow very still, so still even her breathing seemed to have stopped.

"Told me what?"

Nicolette debated furiously with herself to keep her mouth shut, Remi would hate her … for a while, but it's for the best. How could a human possibly accept him and his ways? It is better that he know her reaction to him and then make her forget him completely, then him to tell her and she expose them all when she could not handle it.

"Told you about that mark on your hand."

Lucille clenched her fist over her mark and could not stop her face betraying her fear, even if she had, Nicolette smelt it in the air. The scent of her fear it set off the predator in her like nothing else, Nicolette smiled coldly.

"How could you ever be a match for my son?"

Lucille ignored her. "What about my mark?"

She needed to know, that was a certainty, but she was also certain it would not change the way she felt about Remi. But, oh god, what if he was a psycho? That liked to brand his victims? Lucille felt the world spinning under her feet and tears sprang to her eyes with the sudden feeling of overwhelming loss.

**********************************

Remi stretched and lumbered his way downstairs to the living room, he could hear the faint thump of the jukebox from the bar. Remi glanced at the clock, Lucille should have been at work for at least half an hour by now, he'd have a quick shower and something to eat then go to her. He had to give himself a little longer in his base form though, he was still too tired to be able to hold the form for as long as he had done last night. Even the most powerful Katagaria needed to spend time in their base forms.

"Yo Remi," Remi turned sleepy eyes to see Zar, his older brother, the eldest in fact out of them all, poking his head around the door in human form. In his arms were his two cubs.

_What?_

"Maman wants to see you in her study." He made a stupid face and blew a raspberry at one of the cubs that batted his face with a tubby paw. Something in Remi ached knowing he and Lucille would never be able to reproduce, he would never get to see what could be made from their union, he was sure it would be nothing short of perfection.

_She say what she wants?_

"Nope." Remi gave a little groan, he didn't relish another confrontation, Zar hesitated, "where did you go? You know, when you left us?"

Remi stared at Zar and said nothing, Remi had never seen Zar look truly uncomfortable, but under his stare Zar shifted as if nervous. "We didn't know -" Zar cut off and sighed, "anyway, maman wants to see you."

Remi let Zar go without saying another word and made his way to his mother's study, the idea of his brothers knowing his humiliation was too much for Remi. Yet a part of him, a very, very small part wanted them to know, just so he could ask why they did not come after him. When he could put his hand on his heart and say he'd go to Hades and back to find any of his family … well, he would have done, once upon a time. Now the only one Remi could think of was Lucille. She was the only one he would put his life and soul on the line for, as far as Remi was concerned she was the only one who deserved his loyalty.

Remi nudged open the door of the study, he didn't bother to knock, it just wasn't his way - too polite. He ambled in and saw his mother standing in front of her desk, leaning back against it, she gave him a small smile which looked rather strained to Remi.

_What is it, maman?_

Just as he said it he caught the wonderful scent of Lucille laced with a healthy splash of fear, it was so strong. Before he could stop himself Remi flashed in to his human form and before he could turn around a scream rent the air.

"Shit!" Remi cursed when he saw Lucille in the corner behind the door. Her hand was on her mouth as if she were holding her scream in and her eyes were huge and terrified. Remi felt his heart pick up, driving at such a pace he wondered whether he would pass out. Remi held up his hands slowly as if were surrendering but he made no move to go near her, he knew what was like to be scared without an escape. Should she feel stalked or that he was cornering her she would come out fighting, it was basic instinct, or she would run. Neither option was appealing to Remi, he would rather cut off his own hand then have her afraid of him. Suddenly the door to the study flew open again, Lucille's scream bringing Papa bear, Colt, Dev, Sera, Zar, Kyle, Serre and Jasyn, Papa, Dev and Serre were all in bear form and Lucille backed up against the wall away from them. The three of them flashed into human form and Lucille tightened her hand over her mouth so much that her knuckled were white and she was panting through her nose.

"Oh shit, I smell a security breach," muttered Dev grumpily.


	10. Chapter 10

**(I realise I have probably tweaked Mama Lo's character so much that she is quite a bit different from what SK wanted her to be. Truth is I don't like her after what she did to Wren, which is the only excuse I have for turning her slightly psychotic.)**

Lucille heard his words and evidently thought the worst, her faced turned a whiter shade of pale if it were possible, Remi took one slow step forward and Lucille held up a hand as if to halt him. Perhaps she was afraid of him now? Yeah, that hurt … badly. Remi turned on Dev with a growl.

"Get the fuck out!" he snarled, "you're scaring her!"

"Me!" Dev snapped indignantly, pointing a thumb to his chest, "I've never scared a woman in my life. You're doing a fine job of it on your own!"

"Shut up, Dev!" Sera said sharply before Remi could retort and for that Remi was grateful, he had more important things preoccupying him.

"Look just leave, all of you! Including you." Remi's voice was dangerous as he turned his gaze on his mother, Nicolette raised her chin and fixed him with a majestic stare.

"I did it for you -"

Remi cut her off with a roar so ferocious that Dev stepped immediately in front of his mate and backed her out of the room. Remi could feel his control slipping and his family sensed it too, Mama Lo tensed and looked towards Aubert Peltier who was slowly moving into the room.

"Remi, my son -" Aubert tried to placate but Remi let out a stream of obscenities in both French and English, even Lucille broke out of her shock to wrinkle her nose in disgust, and she only understood half of it. Remi, however, was beyond reason, he could feel his control breaking, and though a far off part of him was aware that he was probably doing further damage to his image in Lucille's mind, he could not connect to reason. All he knew was that his mother had just lost him the thing he loved most in the world.

Lucille stared at Remi's livid face, the fury reflected there was overshadowed by the bear she now recognised inside of him. His rage and aggression, she had thought so animalistic before, now made sense: he was an animal! The tension and anxiety in the room thickened, not just her own, but his family were all preparing to take Remi down. It was going to be in a matter of seconds, Lucille knew, for like a firework fuse, Remi's patience had almost burnt up. Even though a part of her was terribly afraid, and even later when she would convince people that her tears were a result of shock, Lucille knew that it was fear that caused her eyes to overflow. And not just of what Remi was, and not just for her life. She feared for Remi also, his family was comprised of huge men - or bears - and they were about to try and restrain him, she didn't want him hurt. Lucille let her gaze slip past Remi and it locked with Colt's his eyes were fixed on her, like he was trying to drill a hole through her head using just his gaze.

_Help him_, he mouthed to her and Lucille didn't know why but it started a fresh flood of tears, Remi saw this and Lucille knew it was the thing that broke him. He let out a lethal noise and swiped a large arm with a bears paw at the end through the chair in front of the desk, the thing cleaved in two as if it had been made of lego. Before Aubert and Remi's brothers could seize upon him Lucille felt her feet running, and she was in the thicket of noise and colour, she thought it was admirable that she hadn't fainted … yet. Lucille stood facing them all, her arms spread wide as if she were protecting him from the firing squad.

"He told you to leave!" she shouted at them, her chest heaving, she was defiantly in the mood to faint, her knees felt like water and her whole body was shaking. The Peltier family just stared at her, struck dumb by her audacity, she could feel Remi breathing hard behind her, his hot breath hit her neck, he was still pumped to fight yet Lucille suspected that she had also shocked him into some sort of calm.

"For God sake, get the fuck out!"

All was silent until Sera's small giggle broke through the tension, the group parted so Remi could see Sera standing with her hand over her mouth, her eyes gleaming with mischief. Then Colt gave a gruff laugh and turned to leave, the rest took their lead from him and moved away from the door until only his mother, father, Lucille and himself were in the room. The red haze had cleared from his eyes and mind, but it was still a precarious time for anyone in his presence, anyone that was, except Lucille. When Remi turned his eyes on his parents they were full of wrath and the need for vengeance.

"Leave."

Both his parents complied quickly, though his mother stopped near him as if she were about to say something but his father was astute enough to realise the stupidity of the act. They left and Lucille realised she was still standing in front of Remi like a shield, she felt foolish and quickly dropped her arms, moving swiftly away from him. When she turned to face him she saw the hurt there and her heart throbbed painfully, she longed to move into his arms, instead she wrapped her own around herself and sought comfort from another place.

"Thank you," Remi murmured, forcing himself to meet her eyes, he saw that she was watching him with unabashed fascination. Great, he'd become a fucking circus show all over again!

"For what?" Lucille said, and she took a cautious step forward, Remi felt himself tremble as she did so, perhaps she didn't hate him after all.

"You were very brave just now," Remi clarified, "I wouldn't have let anyone lay their hand on you anyway but you stood up to my family. I can only say thank you and that I respect so much for your bravery."

Lucille was warmed by his words and she tried to remind herself that Remi was not human, even though he looked like a very fine male human. In a weird way a part of Lucille was worried that she wasn't having a normal reaction to this, shouldn't she be repulsed? Hysterical? Angry?

She wasn't. She wanted to be held, because she knew without a doubt that Remi would not harm her, he'd take on an entire army and make them look like that poor broken chair just to keep her safe. Well, he'd take on an entire army and make them look like the chair just to prove a point, but Lucille knew he was no threat to her.

"What are you?"

Remi knew that question was coming, he'd wanted her to ask it so he could explain and allay her fears. It seemed like her asking was almost directing her on the road to accepting it - or was that just wishful thinking on his part?

"I'm a were-hunter," Remi replied, and he took a step closer, she didn't retreat, a good sign.

"Like a werewolf?"

"Yeah, but I'm a bear," he said lamely and felt the urge to hit himself upside the head.

"Yes, I noticed," Lucille muttered, "you're quite magnificent."

Remi couldn't help but be pleased and it must have shown on his face because Lucille smiled at him, Remi grinned back boyishly and Lucille laughed, so did Remi. And like that the awkward tension eased and they both moved forward and came together in the most natural way. Remi wrapped Lucille in his arms and breathed in her scent, the fear he'd been feeling up until then whooshed away leaving him feeling a little weak.

"Do I repulse you now?" he asked and Lucille pulled back, her beautiful eyes wide and innocent, she stood on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his.

"Does that feel like repulsion?" she asked and Remi laughed loudly, pure joy making him dizzy.

"You're so amazing! You're perfect. How can you be so accepting of this?"

"Hmm," Lucille inhaled his scent that she loved so much, that spicy male scent that made her want to sink her teeth into him. Lucille paused at that thought, was it appropriate knowing what he was now? She grinned stupidly. "The attic."

Remi looked confused. "Come again?"

Lucille laughed and flushed a little, looking adorable. "Its pretty stupid, okay, but have you ever read Jane Eyre?"

Remi quirked an amused brow but was still nonplussed as to how it fit in with their situation. "I remember when it was published."

"Get out!"

"Yeah, but I didn't read it, I was never really into the whole literary scene."

Lucille was staring at him like he was her personal Jesus, there was an excitement literally brimming from her eyes, the anticipation of endless tales he could tell her about his life. It was one of many gifts he wished to give her.

"You were telling me how this fits in?" Remi reminded her, running his hands over her hair, Lucille's smile widened and she looked a little bashful.

"Well, Mr Rochester locks his mad wife, Bertha, up in the attic and he tries to marry Jane, but obviously the plan gets foiled and Jane finds out about Bertha."

"Obviously," Remi agreed, trying to be serious.

"Well, Jane flips out and ends up running away and staying with St John Rivers and well, I've always thought what Jane did was stupid, you know? Because if she loved him enough, she could have stayed and even though it was completely and utterly wrong and immoral … if she loved him enough. And well, to my mind, if I could have stayed with a man who locked his wife up in the attic for love, then you turning into a bear …" Lucille gave a shrug, "I love you too much to run because of it."

Although it was probably the silliest explanation he'd ever heard it didn't fail to make his heart to a nauseatingly tender flip-flop motion in his chest. Remi captured her precious face in his hands and gazed at her with his heart in his eyes.

"So I'm meant to be Mr. Rochester?" Remi asked, grinning wickedly, Lucille blushed and hid her face in his chest, which jogged under her forehead as he laughed at her.

"Shut up," she scolded playfully, feeling only marginally stupid.

"Hey, I'm not knocking it, female," Remi chuckled, "its kind of nice being viewed as the hero for a change instead of the villain."

Lucille smiled at him indulgently, "villains are more exciting."

Again with the boyish grin that made her knees melt and he knew it did too. Remi let Lucille pull back from him so she could look up into his face, then she lifted her hand.

"What is this?" she asked quietly, he stared at the mark branded in to the lovely skin of her palm, Remi thought it beautiful. He leaned down and nuzzled Lucille's palm and heard Lucille make an erotic noise in the back of her throat. Such noises and all for him! Remi snaked an arm out and wound it around her waist to bring her closer to him, he smelt her arousal and her desire for him, it heightened when he moved from her hand to her neck. Remi shivered when her marked palm caressed the side of his face, Remi pulled back and leant his forehead against hers.

"Come," he tugged at her hand and led her to the door.

"Where are we -?"

"My room," Remi said, tugging gently but insistently, "I want to speak in private where no one can disturb us at all." Remi looked at her closely. "You're not scared of me now, are you?"

He asked it almost hesitantly and Lucille looked at his closed face and wondered if her pause had been interpreted as reluctance, and had she hurt him. Lucille raised his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles, she smiled up at him.

"The only thing that scares me is what Jadine will say if I don't get back to help her soon."

Remi beamed at her looking more handsome then ever. "I'll make it up to her. But as your boyfriend monopolising your time is my prerogative."

Remi led her through his house and Lucille was awed, it was beautiful, so elegant and old world. As much as she disliked the woman, Lucille admitted that Mama Lo had great taste. Remi didn't let go of Lucille's hand until they were up a flight of stairs and standing on the landing outside a cherry wood door, he turned the knob and let it swing open. Lucille saw Remi nod and she walked in, a little unsure of herself, she wrapped her arms around her chest as she suddenly got an attack of the shivers. She heard the door close, the lights came on brightly, then dimmed to a low, romantic setting which had Lucille's eyes straying to the huge bed with a navy comforter over it. Lucille felt Remi's arms come around her waist from behind and she was pulled against his front, he trailed his big hand up and gently fondled her breast. Lucille felt her body temperature soar and gasped when his thumb rubbed over her peaking nipple.

"Remi," she tried to protest but her voice was so husky and weak, it was almost an encouragement. Remi kissed the side of her neck before lowering his hand.

"I know, baby," he said throatily, "explanations first, right?"

Remi's arms slid from around her and Lucille felt a little bereft, not to mention cold, the shivers came back and she hugged herself again. Staring around his room, Lucille wanted to run her hands over his things and smell his bed linen, but she knew it was impolite and she was way too shy.

"Are you okay?" Remi was watching her apprehensively.

"Yeah," Lucille assured him quickly, "yeah, I'm fine. It just occurred to me that I've never even been inside your house before today, let alone your bedroom."

Lucille wondered if she imagined it but she thought she saw him blush, he definitely looked a little awkward.

"If …" he began and stopped, he took a breath and still not looking at her continued. "If I ever came across cold or distant to you, it really wasn't -"

"Oh no, Remi!" Lucille said quickly, perhaps she had hurt him? "I didn't mean that. I was just thinking how much I like being around your things, your private space. It makes me feel closer to you."

Lucille felt her cheek alight with red fire, she wished she could speak of her feelings for him as naturally as she felt them, but the fear that he would find her needy and clingy always held her back. The fear of driving him away from her was ever present in her mind, so she supposed she was needy and possessive after all.

Remi's smile widened and he felt a surge of triumph warm his insides, he marched to her and took her abruptly by the upper arms.

"Then move in with me!" he said fiercely, "stay here with me, love me, mate me, marry me!"

Lucille had never swooned in her life, she ignored the fact that she'd never had occasion to, she felt that now, if she had the inclination, would be a perfect time to swoon. The sheer joy of his words and the automatic response that had her wanting to fling herself into his arms was resisted by the sudden surge of reason dampening the moment as it always did.

"Remi, I think we need to talk about all of -" she waved her hand back and forth between them, "this! I feel really out of my depth here."

Remi's face didn't lose the look of impassioned determination, he gripped her hands firmly and guided her to his bed where Lucille at down on the edge, her knees pressed tightly together. Remi went and pulled a chair over from the corner of his room and sat it in front of her, he leant forward so his elbows rested on his knees and he could hold her hands. Remi didn't want to admit it but he needed the physical contact with her so badly, just to reassure him he hadn't truly lost her and that what he was experiencing now was just a dream.

"Okay, shoot. What do you want to know?" He asked, sliding his finger between hers, linking them together. He watched Lucille's eyes soften as she looked down at their joined hands and Remi felt his own tenderness for her rush to the forefront. His body was still pumped by him asking her to marry him and live with him, his erection that was ever present when Lucille was near, was throbbing against his pants. The fact that she gave him no answer did not deter Remi, call him arrogant, but he wasn't prepared to live without her, he wanted her as his wife and his mate and he wanted her to see him as the same.

"What's this mark on my hand?" Lucille asked immediately, watching Remi stroke her fingers with his thumb, "your mother mentioned you would know what it means."

At the mention of his mother Remi's face froze and his expression grew stony, a slow fire began to smoulder in the depths of his eyes and Lucille leant forward with the intention of kissing his anger away. As she did so, Remi tried to deepen the kiss but she pulled back and he pouted, with her eyes only she gave him a small reprimand and Remi gave a very 'I'm so hard done by' sigh.

"Okay, the mark. It appears on the palm of one of my people a few hours after they've had sex with their mate."

"Mate?"

"Would it be too cliché to say soul mate?"

Lucille stared at him but couldn't think of anything to say.

"The mate for a were-hunter is never chosen by the individual. It is predestined by fate, or _the _Fates. We have no say so over who we are mated to."

"Okaaay." Lucille felt she was taking this very well, very well indeed.

"Its one of the curses of my race that when we find our mate we must complete the mating ritual within three weeks of the mark appearing."

Lucille went very still. "What ritual?" she asked automatically and as Remi opened his mouth to answer she cut him over. "No, wait! I don't want you to answer that first. Time limit takes precedence. Three weeks? Why?"

"Well …" Remi hesitated, knowing what he was about to tell would likely freak her out, but he didn't want to lie to her. He decided to tell the truth, he was an animal after all and he loved her enough to want to be honest with her in everything. "After the three weeks is up if we haven't claimed our mate we, that is to say the males, become completely impotent. The females can still have sex but are unable to bear children. If the ritual is completed within the time slot -" Remi said quickly, intuiting her next question. "The male becomes impotent around anyone but their mates and they can make babies together."

"So even if the ritual is completed the female could in theory still have sex with other males?"

Remi became still and the fire came back to his eyes with such ferocity that Lucille felt the hair on the back of her neck rise, she suddenly felt very vulnerable under his intense stare.

"I would crucify any man that touched you who wasn't me!" Remi hissed and Lucille blinked, as if suddenly aware of what he had said and how he'd said it, Remi looked as if he were ashamed. He let go of her hand so he could stand and move to stand in the other corner of the room, where he stood, arms folded over his strong chest and his eyes refusing to meet hers.

"I don't want another man," Lucille said carefully, "I was just curious."

"Yes, the female could use other males for pleasure," Remi bit out, "the fates are, after all, women."

"Did you know I was your mate before this appeared?" Lucille asked, feeling her heart sink at the implications of what he had told her, Remi shook his head and was confused when felt sadness and relief coming from her.

"So when you said you loved me," Lucille cleared her tight throat, "it wasn't because you knew I could be your mate?"

Remi was still for a moment and then he moved so fast across the room he was a blur, before Lucille knew what had happened, Remi had her face cupped in his giant hands and he bent his head and took her mouth brutally with his own. He nipped her lips and his tongue, when he slipped it past her lips, was ruthless in its assault, they were small punishments for her lack of faith in him. They filled Lucille with joy; she would take them all and more just to know he loved her with a pure heart. When he tore his mouth away Remi looked down at Lucille's passionate face, her lips swollen from his kisses and red from his stubble, her eyes glazed and dreamy, she looked edible.

"Don't ever say that again!" he warned her, "I love you for being exactly who you are. I have loved no one else, I want no one else!"

"I'm sorry if I hurt you," Lucille murmured huskily and Remi groaned. Could she torture him more if she actually knew what she was doing? She turned him inside out with her tenderness and her heart.

"I want you now," Remi said starkly and it made Lucille's whole body tighten with lust, "I want you here, in my bed. I want to hear you moaning in my ear while I take you on my sheets, in my room."

Lucille trailed her hands up his black pants and curled her fingers into his waist band. "So take me," she said with an enticing gleam in her eye, she sat there waiting for him to move like a dare.

"You don't know what I am," Remi said sadly, his fingers stroking her lovely face.

"Yes, I do," Lucille argued crossly, a little offended that he either thought her fragile or dense.

"You don't understand -" Lucille gave an un-ladylike snort, and said something she would never have thought she would ever say in her lifetime.

"So you can change into a bear? So what? Big deal, I still want you."

Remi looked sad for a moment, "I don't change into a bear, Lucille. I am a bear. I just happen to be able to take human form. But my heart and soul are that of an animal. Could you really share a bed with me knowing that should I fall asleep I'd have paws and grow fur?"

Lucille was struck dumb for a moment and she could see the mounting anticipation for her to strike a lethal blow to his heart on Remi's angelic face.

She'd wake up in the morning next to a bear …

"That's pretty kinky," she teased him and he looked even sadder, Lucille ached for him and the turmoil he must have been facing.

"Lucille -"

"Remi, can we talk about this later? I've been longing to be alone with you since I opened my eyes and saw your note this morning. I've had a stressful day and want to ease it by making love to you."

Remi briefly wondered whether it was wise for him to be so enamoured by her, but he realised as she took his hand, wise or not he was already there. And nothing he could do or say, nor anyone could do or say, could change that fact. By the Gods, he loved her and he wanted her with all the power that was within him, but he feared the day she realised she couldn't handle the life he was about to give her. Remi had selfishly ignored thinking about the future the two of them would have, she was human, he an animal. He couldn't hold her in his arms like a man at night and sleep soundly, he couldn't give her children. And on top of all of that he had a pissy personality and one hell of a fucked up family, yeah he was a catch alright. Remi allowed Lucille to pull him down to the bed, he was selfish enough to take her one last time before she suddenly realised the consequences. His heart ached even as his body hardened for her pleasure and his. One more time with her, then a lifetime of pain from knowing the woman he loved would no doubt be repulsed by him. And she would hate the life she would lead should he let her foolishly make the decision to bind herself to him.

He would make their last time divine.


	11. Chapter 11

Remi dropped his hands down to Lucille's that were still curled into his waistband, he twined his fingers with hers as he dipped his head down and pressed his lips to hers. He gasped when Lucille slipped her tongue past his lips and began to ravish his mouth, there was an urgency to her kiss that had never been there before, it was different, almost desperate. Remi pulled back and studied her face.

"What's wrong?" Lucille asked a little breathlessly, Remi was about to say but he shook his head and bent to her once more. He pushed her back upon the bed and moaned when Lucille ran her hand down his front to cup him through his pants, Remi kissed and nipped at her skin and trailed down to her neck. He moved his mouth to the hollow of her throat where he tongued her, becoming more aroused as he felt her moans vibrate through her skin. Remi pushed his hands under her and moved over the arch of her spine to her ass, which he cupped and squeezed a little harder then normal, he then pulled her forward so that her core came into contact with his hardened length through their clothing. Lucille gasped out her pleasure and rubbed herself against him, famished for his body even though they had only been with each other the night before.

This new found sexual need was shocking to Lucille, she had never thought of herself as a particularly sexual being, if anything her sexual drive was lower then average. But Remi was like a drug she couldn't resist, he was the sin that you had to indulge in, he was deadly to her senses and turned her will to mush. The things he made her body and heart feel were unbelievable. Remi bit down on the swell of her breast and her sex bloomed for him, even though that Lucille knew that his teeth were bears teeth, it still aroused her. He was an animal, even as the thought crossed her mind Lucille could not associate the image of a bear with Remi, even though she had seen him physically morph from one species to the other. Perhaps she was still in shock? Whatever the reason for her apathy towards his unusualness, Lucille pushed it to the back of her mind when Remi yanked off her pants and quickly discarded his own. Lucille had been so caught up in the physical sensations of his tongue and hands, she hadn't realised he had stripped her of everything but her underwear, Remi himself was naked. Lucille saw him standing before her looking golden and menacing, his hardened sex thrust out at her aggressively and she felt the answering rush of wetness coat her own sex when he ran his hand down his front to cup himself in his palm.

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked looking uncertain, Lucille bit her lip and scooted back on the bed, feeling naughty she opened her legs giving him a glimpse of herself. Remi licked his dry lips and moved forward swiftly, he planted his hand firmly on her chest and shoved her back, Remi wasted no time with play and pushed her thighs wide and thrust himself into her. Lucille screamed out her pleasure and came almost instantly, squeezing her body tight around Remi's, Remi began pumping his hips with a brutal force that sent Lucille's ecstasy into overdrive. Neck straining, hips thrusting in time with his, Lucille was all but lost to sensation.

Remi knew that another orgasm was coming upon Lucille, he knew her body better then his own almost, he knew the change in her moans when she was about to come and he felt her body thrusting harder against his own, seeking its pleasure. Remi bit his lip so hard he drew blood in an effort to hold himself back, he wanted her to take all she could from him, to reach her peak time and again with only him. Remi wasn't sure why he was so worried about Lucille, perhaps he was more affected by the shock of her finding out then she was. But something told Remi all was not well, he could not keep his heart from racing with panic, he felt like he was going to lose her to one thing or another. Closing eyes against a rush of panic, Remi concentrated on Lucille, her breathy encouragement, her moans, her tight body, her slick wetness. He allowed himself to think of only her and with that his dam broke; he released himself into her with a hoarse cry, Remi collapsed and rolled off of her body. Lucille went with him and clung like a burr to his side, she playfully bit at his pecs and licked at his nipples, Remi groaned, his heart hadn't even begun to slow and he had started to harden again.

"Oh Remi," Lucille sighed, then paused when she felt his hardness against her, a wicked grin spread across her face and she began to kiss her way down his chest, Lucille moved down further so she could slide her smooth tongue over his abs. The cooling sweat on his body broke out afresh and Remi had to hold himself in check by gripping the sheets.

Lucille's head disappeared under the comforter and Remi hissed when he felt her nails scrape gently at his thighs, then the impossible, blinding pleasure of her tongue sweeping out to delicately lick his wet head paralysed him. Remi gripped the comforter and threw it off the bed, needing to see her give to him, Remi gasped as her teeth scraped gently over him before tonguing him wholly into her mouth. Remi stroked and gripped her long hair that fell over her shoulders and tickled his thighs, she didn't seem to mind that his grip was hard, in fact she moaned deep in her throat causing vibrations to heighten his pleasure.

Lucille had never done this to a man before, even in wild teen years she had not done so, Remi was the first man she ever wanted to give to in such a way. She'd thought it disgusting before, now she felt decadent and sexy, as she moaned when tasting herself on his shaft. But she also felt deep love and trust, the kind that made her want to do anything to please this man or … bear. Remi's hand tightened before he came and Lucille kept going until he was spent, then she curled up at his side, loving the feeling of his arms coming round her, gathering her close and spooning against her back. She felt his lips touch the back of her neck and heard him sigh.

"I love you, Lucille."

Remi used his powers to push her into sleep before she could say another word; he took the time just watching her lying in his bed, amongst his sheets. She looked so right there, so perfect, it was meant to be almost. He didn't want her waking until tomorrow morning so he had time to speak to his mother and the rest of his family, he didn't want her around for that, she'd seen to much of that side of him, he desperately wanted to shield her from himself.

*************************************************

Lucille was disappointed to wake alone and even more so when she saw that Remi hadn't left a note, but then she rationalised, she was in his bed so there was no need. She took a moment to indulge in simply wriggling around on his sheets and pressing her face into his pillow, glad that no one was around to see. When she finally climbed from the bed she saw that at the foot of it was a brown, leather duffel bag - her bag. She knelt by it and rooted through finding her favourite red sweater, a pair of jeans, make up, tooth brush, everything was there even down to her own hair brush and shampoo. Remi must have gone back there late last night or early this morning to get her stuff, probably took the key from her purse, then again, Lucille corrected herself with a frown, he was "different" he didn't need a key. Lucille looked at the clock … damn! She'd slept so long, literally all of yesterday and though it was early in the morning now, she couldn't understand how she could have slept so long. It was so out of character for her, especially since she suffered with insomnia from time to time. Lucille considered it a little longer but shook it off and put it down to shock. The shock of finding out what Remi was must have taken its toll physically rather then mentally, and she'd become exhausted or something. Though the wondrous lovemaking may also have something to do with it, Lucille smiled stupidly and picked up an envelope at the bottom of the bag. It simply had her name written over the front and Lucille recognised it as belonging to her stationary set that she'd bought a little while ago; she shook out the letter inside and then shook it open. The letter was from Janet and Lucille actually slapped herself in the forehead, how could she forget her sister was at her house? Lucille began to read, it was a short letter, in fact it was more of a long note.

_Dear Lucille,_

_I'm leaving now; I didn't take or touch anything in your apartment._

_I don't feel happy about many things, but I'm glad our pain hasn't killed you. One day you'll understand me better, I think. _

_Don't think too badly of me. Don't forget your promise, Luce. Never forget that promise._

_Yours,_

_Janet_

Lucille frowned as she re-read the note several times; her initial thought had been what a waste of paper. Perhaps Janet had been high at the time, but then Lucille had seen Janet high, most of the time she wasn't coherent enough for an average English sentence let alone a written note. Lucille sighed, the note had meant she had indeed left Lucille's apartment, there was a part of Lucille that was always relieved to see her sister go. As awful as it sounded Janet frightened Lucille, she was Lucille's alternative future personified. She was the 'could have been' for Lucille, she was the past Lucille tried to escape from by hanging dangerously out of windows in the pouring rain or walking at dawn through deserted places. Still there was a sadness to all of it. If only Janet would accept help, if only she'd help herself, but she wouldn't … most likely couldn't and as stupid as it would sound to some people, Lucille did not blame her. Lucille wondered if Janet and Remi had met when he'd gone to her apartment, poor Janet would likely have been terrified. There was another thing bugging Lucille, this promise. What had she committed herself to? Lucille decided to forget about it until she had to face it again, putting the letter back in the envelope then back in the bag, she headed for the bathroom.

Lucille was just coming out of the bathroom brushing her hair when the door opened; she was disappointed when it wasn't Remi.

"Hey?" Aimee said to the apparently empty room as she stuck her head around the door, Lucille stepped forward a little hesitantly and came into view.

"Hi Aimee," Lucille said, again with an air of awkwardness, she pulled her hair back at the front and secured it with a clip at the back of her head. Aimee glided into the room looking amazing and beautiful and confident. Lucille risked a look at herself in the mirror, next to Aimee's full, perfect figure and luscious blond hair that bounced and flowed around her head as if blessed with its own natural breeze, Lucille felt like an immature, scruffy teenager. This woman should be on the front of Vogue or those horrid magazines that made Lucille eat that last brownie on the plate through sheer depression.

Lucille knew her own figure wasn't terrible up against some women who had really let themselves go, but she wasn't flab free that was for sure. Aimee was truly one of those women who could wear a sack and still be adored by all the males around her. Yet for all her excessive, sickening beauty Aimee was just too lovely and full of heart to be hated because of petty jealousies. Though there was no doubt she inspired them, but Aimee had a gentle rather unassuming way about her that was at odds with her outrageous beauty. Still, Lucille thought with a relieved sigh, she was glad Aimee was Remi's sister. Lucille doubted Aimee would be the type of woman that would try and take another's man, though she could without breaking a sweat, but the poor girl was pining for her own love. It was common knowledge in the Sanctuary, even amongst the humans, which Lucille found out were the minority in the bar. It was why Lucille liked Aimee so much, it was really an empathy thing, Lucille didn't want to think about what it would be like if Remi suddenly disappeared from her life.

"Hey Lucille," Aimee said, there was something very careful and deliberately slow in the way she walked and talked, as if she were approaching a wild horse. "You're up. How are you?"

"Fine," Lucille answered brightly, honestly, Aimee nodded and came further into the room holding a tray of breakfast.

"I thought you'd like something to eat," Aimee said before laying the tray down on the bed, she sat beside it slowly and tried, unsuccessfully, not to stare at Lucille. Lucille paused in chewing her toast.

"Do I have something on my face?" she wiped at her mouth and looked at her hands, nope, no crumbs or jam.

"Oh! No, no. Sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable," Aimee said, flushing a bit, the sight of her obvious embarrassment set Lucille at ease. "It's just, well … you know - well, Lucille you've taken this so well. I mean, a part of me would be wondering if you weren't slightly unhinged you are so calm, but Margie acted pretty much the same way."

Lucille laughed and sipped her orange juice, Aimee still eyed her with a peculiar expression and Lucille was in too much of a good mood to contemplate it.

"Doesn't any of this worry you?" Aimee finally said in a disbelieving voice and Lucille sat down beside her.

"Last night Remi explained a lot of things about your world to me. He told me how y'all came to be were-hunters," Lucille said tasted the word carefully as she said it, the terminology more strange to her then the actual truth itself. "I mean, yeah, it was a lot to take in but I won't be running for the hills just yet."

Aimee still didn't look convinced, in fact there was something akin to suspicion upon her face, Lucille swallowed that hurt by telling herself that Remi was her brother, and though he had assured her that he wasn't close with all of his siblings, Aimee would still have right to worry for him. Besides Lucille was kind of a threat to their world, Remi had made it clear that Were-Hunters were very paranoid about anyone finding out about them. They already had wars going on between the Katagaria (very strange word) and the Arcadians (equally strange word); they didn't really want to contend with the human population too. Who would no doubt hunt them, kill them and stick them in a lab. Lucille hated the thought but acknowledged the sad truth of it.

"What is it, Aimee?" Lucille asked finally, wanting the cards laid out on the table. She'd woke this morning with the brightest smile and the best feeling of clarity she'd had in years, Lucille Renn had a man, she was loved and she did love, it was enough to make her climb to the rooftops and sing. She didn't need Aimee marring her day like the proverbial rain cloud hovering over her parade.

"I'm sorry, Lucille. It's just -" Aimee struggled with her words until she gave an aggravated sigh. "Okay, I'll just come out with it. Remi is a mean bastard."

Lucille felt her insides clench and she bit back an immediate protest and defence of her lover. Instead she snapped into lawyer mode and put on her best non-judgemental, pensive face and began to nod, Aimee took heart from this and continued.

"He's my brother and I love him, I'll always love him and care about him, okay? But I know more then anyone, having grown up with him that he is mean and careless. He has no restraint or self-discipline, he's aggressive and sarcastic and he just so -"

"Stubborn? Opinionated? Arrogant?" Lucille supplied.

"Yes! Yes, that is exactly it! He is all of those things and you, Lucille, are not. I can't see how a person like you could be happy, or for that matter compatible, with my brother. I know the mating mark ties you together but it defies logic!"

"He is aggressive, he's arrogant, he's stubborn, he lacks restraint," Lucille agreed solemnly and her eyes met Aimee's, "and that makes him different from every other man - or bear - here how?"

Aimee looked momentarily dumbfounded but before she could recover the ability of speech, Lucille carried on. "He's sarcastic and has a piss poor attitude most of the time and he's stubborn without a doubt. But as far as I've seen he's also rather quiet and kind and romantic," Lucille shrugged, "I think you're being way too hard on him. Remi's explained to the world you live in, the weak cannot survive in your world, the animal world. You may walk on two legs and speak but you're essentially animals, right?"

"Yes, but -"

"Ah, ah, let me finish," Lucille said lightly, holding up her hand, "You may not like who Remi is but I love him. I won't ask him to change who he is, and he hasn't asked me to either."

"But you accepted it like that!" Aimee snapped her fingers, "within a matter of minutes you were in this room doing Artemis knows what! You are sleeping with a bear! Do you realise that? I mean, most human women would find that incredibly strange not to mention perverted."

"He's always in human form when we make love, so there really is no perversion," Lucille said, making light of her words and laughed when Aimee grimaced with disgust.

"How can you -"

"God Aimee!" Lucille snapped losing her patience, "why is this such a big thing for you? Why can't you just be happy that your brother has found his mate? That I've found mine? You've always had a kind, loving family - though your mother leaves a lot to be desired," Lucille added in an undertone. "I've never had that, and if I did I can barely remember it through all the shit that's gone on in my life. Aimee, I forgot what it meant to be loved and cared for by someone. I used to be a lawyer, did you know?"

Aimee shook her head silently, sombrely.

"I did. And I saw couples coming and going in the offices all day long getting divorces. The husband had cheated on the wife, the wife on the husband. I saw this couple once; the wife had cheated on her husband with some younger guy she'd met over an internet chat room. But her husband adored her, right up until the ink was drying on the papers he still loved her, you could see it. And it baffled the hell out of me. I didn't understand how she - this women - possessed the thing I craved, I would kill for! And she had thrown it away. She - was - _loved_! She had someone who loved her and she threw it away because she was bored or too lazy to try and make it work between them."

Lucille heaved a tired sigh, "I am now in a situation where I could easily throw away this relationship. Throw away a man that I love and who loves me. Yeah, this is a helluva lot different then most problems couples face but not big enough for me to give up on the one thing I have wished for my whole life, just because its been served to me on an unusual platter."

Aimee looked away from Lucille and her throat worked rapidly, when she spoke she was a little hoarse. "I just don't understand h-how he can get every … everything he wants, and I'm still waiting for mine?"

Aimee covered her face with her hands, Lucille was about to approach her but Aimee stood up suddenly and looked at Lucille with dry, determined eyes. She stepped forwards and put her arms around Lucille and hugged her gently. Shocked, Lucille automatically responded.

"I'm sorry, Lucille," she whispered in Lucille's ear. "You're good for him. You're wonderful for my brother."

Aimee left before Lucille could respond, the entire conversation made Lucille feel exhausted all over again, and right now she just wanted Remi.


	12. Chapter 12

Remi leant on the bar and broke tooth picks into tiny pieces, he'd done nothing but think all morning and he was tired of it. He needed distraction, and the best type was at present asleep in his bed. He wanted to go to Lucille but he needed his brain clear of worry first. Since Lucille's finding out and their making love and then him explaining to her the basics of the were-hunter world, though how much of this wacky shit could be explained in words was debateable, Remi had been swinging back and forth across the emotional spectrum. One minute he was positive he'd done the right thing, he and Lucille would mate and live happily ever after, with his mother locked in a tower somewhere, preferably the Australian outback. The next minute he was knee deep in worry and self-pity, filled with doubts and insecurities. And the questions! How will he make her happy? Could she cope with him being a bear? How would she cope with them being unable to procreate? All the questions just added to his insecurity and feeling that their love was doomed. He silently snarled at himself, he was sounding like a tragedy, a real sissy. Remi held back the urge to sigh dejectedly, his eyes shot up quickly as Etienne walked past and he glowered menacingly. Etienne quickly shifted his eyes away and moved towards the door that lead through to their mother's house. Remi felt like his life had been split into two parts: Before Lucille and After Lucille, before he had been a churning pot of black emotions, boiling and turbulent and utterly uncontrollable. He'd had dark urges and dreams of hurting, maiming and killing, he'd feared it just as much as he longed to embrace it, the only thing that stopped him was the fear of truly becoming a slayer. A true slayer that would kill an Arcadian child just as soon as he would kill a Sentinel that truly threatened him.

And then there was now. That darkness was still there, that rage was still as potent as it had ever been yet the need to love and care for his mate took precedence over everything else. Remi wanted to ask someone was it normal to feel so intensely about ones mate or was it just Lucille. He was still volatile though, there was no escaping that fact, but it was in a different way. Mixed in with anger and pain and hurt was intense passion, extreme lust, deep-seated love, powerful feelings of fear that he would lose her and jealousy. He wanted no other man near her, not even his brothers, he didn't even like the way she bestowed her radiant smiles on the busboys that handed her the empty plates. He wanted his scent on her skin, in her hair, he wanted to be in her thoughts and her dreams. A part of him was disgusted and worried about how obsessed he was with her, he didn't know if Lucille felt the same way about him, she would likely freak out if she knew just the depth of his feelings. One thing he knew was that it wasn't normal.

Unexpectedly two lovely, slender hands slipped into his line of vision as he sat looking dismally at the bar top. He knew them immediately, he knew them intimately. They belong to the body and face of his heart, he'd kissed and nuzzled them along with every other part of her body. Remi raised his eyes to her and saw Lucille smiling at him, he lost the ability to form coherent thoughts until he sensed she was a little bit nervous.

"Hey baby," he said with a throat full of gravel, he cleared it.

"Hey, I wondered where you'd gone to this morning," Lucille replied quietly, "I missed you."

Remi gave her a half smile and leant forward so he could kiss her, when he pulled back Lucille glanced around and blushed. Remi suddenly became aware that a few of the Weres in the bar were giving him blatant looks of shocked curiosity. Remi rounded the bar and put himself in front of Lucille, blocking her from everyone's view, Lucille smiled up and him and her hands laid lightly on his waist before she stood on tiptoes to kiss him again. Remi pulled back reluctantly and took her hand, "come on."

"Where are we going?" she asked, not moving, Remi tugged a little and got her feet going towards the door.

"For a walk."

"I have work -"

"Not until this evening, I got Colt to change your shifts."

"Oh," there was a moment when Lucille hesitated, it looked as if she were debating whether or not to be pissed off that he had rearranged her work hours without telling her. She let it slide with a shrug but Remi could tell it would be a one off.

****************************************************

It wasn't easy to find somewhere private to talk to Lucille, but Remi decided he might as well go all out and take a ride out of the city centre. He'd never felt so relaxed and free, even with things weighing on his mind, then he did with Lucille sat tensely on the back of his bike, holding him in a death grip. They reached a small, deserted park area and Lucille led them towards a picnic bench, she took one side and Remi tried to wedge himself into the other. He shifted his legs trying to get comfortable, Lucille laughed at him and Remi felt a little bit of heat sting his cheeks as he smiled back sheepishly. Silence cropped between them, a little uncomfortable from Remi's point of view, but then he was the only one who seemed to think something was wrong, Lucille had her head leant back enjoying the sunshine. He didn't know what he wanted to say to her, perhaps because this whole we-should-talk thing had never been his scene, when he had problems in the past he'd eliminated them before they could become any bigger. Besides he wanted her to talk, he wanted - _damn, he was such a woman! _He wanted to know what she was thinking and whether she was feeling him the way he was definitely feeling her.

"Pretty weird night, huh?" _Pretty weird night, huh?_

For some reason those words sounded strange to him, he chucked them around in his head, were the words wrong? Or was it his voice? Either way he felt like an idiot. Lucille seemed oblivious to his obsessive ponderings and just beamed at him.

"Oh yeah," she agreed, "but weird can be good too."

"You know we talked a lot last night about … what I am. How do you feel now?"

"Oh baby," Lucille laughed and gave him a pitying look, "don't tell me you've been getting all wound up over this. I told you last night I love you and I want to be with you."

Lucille swept her hand over the table and laced her fingers through his, she didn't know where this sudden confidence in herself had come from. She flicked a glance down at her hand where Remi's mating mark was branded, perhaps that was her insurance, knowing that they were stuck together now whether they liked it or not. Though that sounded rather unromantic.

"Lucille," Remi made a sound of ultimate suffering before letting go of her hand, he got up from the cramping bench and started to pace. Lucille eyed him warily, she didn't understand the sudden change of mood, nor did she feel her words warranted it. What was going on in that man's … bears mind?

"What's wrong, Remi?" Lucille asked softly, Remi became still, he had his back to her when he started speaking in a low, grave voice.

"You don't have a choice, Lucille. We're mates now with no way out. Doesn't it bother you that I've taken away your choice?"

"Why should I care when I would have chosen you anyway?"

Remi felt a burning behind his eyes at her words, what good had he done in his life to deserve someone like Lucille? That even after all she had been through she could still love so purely and wholly, so completely. Remi knew what it was like to not have a choice, to feel as if there was no way of ever getting out of something so just going along with it. Unwillingly his memories sucked him under and the silence that cropped between them lasted for a long time. Lucille stared at Remi's back, her mind awash with doubts and indecision, so much for that new found confidence, she admonished herself scornfully. She wanted to go to him but the uncertain part of her was wondering whether he was … could he be … was he rejecting her? His silence and closed body language suggested there was something wrong between them, Lucille bit her lip and looked down at her palm. Anger prickled at her. Remi was right, she didn't have a choice, the decision as to which path her life would go down had been snatched from her and replaced with a completely distorted one. One that she would have gladly accepted, but Remi's reluctance to talk made her wonder whether it wasn't her acceptance that was needed, maybe it was his. Lucille bored a hole in his back staring at him, she gripped her edge of the table and kept herself still, whatever judgement or conclusion he needed to find, he needed to find on his own.

_Please talk to me, turn around and talk to me. Please!_

But he didn't, Remi stood staring into the distance and Lucille felt like she wanted to cry, she felt like she was losing him. She knew that was silly and childish but it was how she felt. He'd seemed fine when they made love last night, but no … even then there was something missing, and this morning he had kissed her but … What about the way he looked around at the others like him? Perhaps because she wasn't like him it was something of a source of shame? Lucille put her face in her hands trying to block out that hateful thought, did what the others think matter so much to him? And his mother? She definitely wasn't happy with the whole thing, in fact she looked like she'd rather swallow glass then have them together. There was obvious resistance to it, and from what Remi had told her it was practically impossible for a human and a Were-Hunter to mate, so what they had was practically an abomination. Plus they couldn't have children, not that she could have had any even if Remi had been human. Lucille shook her head sharply, she simply refused to believe Remi was rejecting her, there were no doubt things going on in his mind, troubling things. But Lucille could not help him unless he told her what they were and that he would have to do in his own good, sweet time. Though she had put aside those hideous doubts for now Lucille still felt angry. Remi had been a saviour when she needed one most, he'd done things for her no other human being had ever done and she loved him deeply. But this whole brooding silence thing was putting him on very thin ice, Lucille narrowed her eyes at his back, very thin.

Lucille couldn't stand to be seated anymore, swinging her leg around she got off the bench, her movements felt weird and jerky. Remi heard her moving and turned around to face her, she had her arms wrapped around her stomach, like she was holding herself together.

"I think I want to go back now," she said rather stiffly.

Remi nodded, he'd not been able to say what he wanted to her, but perhaps it was too soon. They walked back towards the bike and Remi could feel the chilly silence between them giving him goose bumps. He was about to ask her if she was okay but she turned her back towards him and jammed the helmet down over her head, effectively shutting him out.

When they returned to Sanctuary Remi immediately felt that tension in him hike up a gear, he felt the inquiring stares on them and it made him feel rather inclined to lash out. But he tried to keep a lid on it, at least until Lucille was out of sight.

"I didn't expect you back so soon," Colt said, looking up from the newspaper, Lucille gave him the same plastic smile she was giving everyone.

"Yes, it didn't take so long for us to 'talk'," Lucille said lightly, though there was a fine air about her words, that if Remi wasn't mistaken, could be sarcasm. "Or not as the case may be."

Colt raised an eyebrow at Remi and Remi snarled, before Lucille could disappear behind the bar Remi caught up to her.

"Where are you going?" he said, her strange mood playing havoc with his own.

"Well, since that long, drawn out chat of ours is over, and you changing my shift, I was thinking I'd go upstairs, grab my stuff and go home."

Both Colt's eyebrows shot up and his lips quivered into a small smile, he looked expectantly at Remi to lay down the law.

"I don't want you to," Remi said, trying to ignore Colt, the Arcadian's grin had widened.

"Don't you?" Lucille said, in the same way one might utter the words 'how extraordinary'. With that she moved to the back of the bar and out of sight, Remi opened his mouth and then looked at Colt, the Arcadian was staring at Remi with a shit eating grin.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Remi growled, his mind still slightly shocked out by Lucille's sudden change in demeanour.

"I don't look like the one with the problem," he said smugly before sauntering off, whistling the wedding march.


	13. Chapter 13

Remi allowed Lucille to go home, he didn't escort her - he made Colt do that - for some reason he trusted the Arcadian. He thought maybe a little time away from the weirdness of Sanctuary might calm her down. He guessed she was just a little bit freaked out by everything that had gone on; maybe she was coming down from an all night adrenaline high or something. Ah, who was he kidding? He'd pissed her off somehow, he just wasn't sure how. Remi cast a look up at the clock it was almost five, she would be in soon, sometimes she even turned up five minutes early. Lucille was nothing if not punctual.

"Remi?"

"Yeah?" he murmured distractedly and looked around to see Dev waving a hand near his face; he jerked back with a growl. Dev laughed at him.

"What's wrong with you boy? You've been walking around with your head up your ass all day!"

"Why not keep your eyes on your mate instead of me," Remi snapped back and Dev's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Just that she spends a lot more time around different males for someone who's supposed to be your female."

Dev's eyes were cold even if he spoke with a mock politeness.

"Oh yeah, and how is Lucille?" Dev dropped the act and his voice became biting, "I haven't seen her all day."

"You asswipe!" Remi snarled starting forward a step, Dev did the same and they met half way, their chests pushing against each other.

"At least I can keep my girl happy," Dev sneered back and Remi's vision wavered into a sea of red, Dev's words cut far too close to home for comfort and Remi roared, bringing his hand back to swipe his claws at Dev's face.

A large hand closed around Remi's wrist, Remi looked up to see his father holding on to him, his face like stone.

"Enough," his voice was low yet it rumbled with authority. Remi sneered and wrenched his wrist, Aubert held on to Remi a second longer just to let him know he could very easily give him a match. "Go to your room, Remi, you've had enough for tonight."

"I'm waiting for my mate!" Remi hissed back and pushed past his father and Dev, Remi bared his teeth at Justin and Max as he passed them, he felt his incisors lengthening. Justin's eyes flashed but he made no move to come forward for a fight, something Remi was sorely scouting for. He settled himself on the threshold of the kitchen so that whichever door Lucille decided to come through he would get to her. Five o clock came and so did Lucille, she came through the back door just as Remi suspected she would and that pissed him off royally. She was trying to avoid him! Their eyes met over the steaming saucepans and cluttered work tops, her eyes flashed and narrowed in warning, she was still supremely ticked off. And Remi didn't give a shit, the brief minutes of waiting for her to come in had done nothing to calm him, his temper was like boiling fat spitting from the pan. He was sporting for a fight and by the looks of her when he approached so was she. Lucille knew he would come to her, she knew when he was approaching and turned to meet him, squaring her shoulders and meeting his eyes dead on.

"I want to talk," It came out as an order, what he really meant was 'get your ass upstairs now', Lucille stiffened but kept her cool.

"I'm working," she said shortly.

"This won't take long."

"Yes it will and I don't have the time for it."

Lucille felt a vicious satisfaction at freezing him out, at seeing his eyes flare with anger; she felt no fear of being hurt by him. Angry with him she might be but she still trusted him with her life and loved him with all her heart. They were just working their way through their first argument as a couple and from the look on Remi's face it was going to be a great one. Lucille gave him her back and Jadine who was finishing up her shift dawdled by the back door watching with wide eyes, Lucille managed to flash her a smile before she felt the world tip. Her stomach flipped and things blurred, when she could make sense of things again Lucille realised that Remi had simply lifted her over his shoulder like some sort of caveman and was carrying her out of the kitchen.

Lucille felt her cheeks burn, all the guys and girls she worked with were watching a full grown woman being bodily lifted and removed from a room like some naughty toddler. She didn't know what would make the scene more humiliating, her flaying her arms and kicking to be let go, which Lucille knew even then was utterly pointless. Remi wanted her upstairs and that was exactly where he was taking her and exactly where she was going to be in a few seconds. Or simply hanging there like a rag doll, like some ditzy heroine swooning and fainting while some huge he-man carried her to his lair.

"Let me down right now," Lucille tried to turn the tables but using her most haughty voice, "you're acting like a complete and utter fool. Put me down and we'll talk about this like adults, you're acting like a spoilt child."

Remi simply growled and Lucille could not keep her legs still any longer, she kicked it once and her foot hit something hard that may have been his stomach. She barely heard the 'huff' he made, but her leg rebounded so limply that she simply gave up and waited to be put down on the floor of his bedroom before retaliating. Lucille let Remi step back before launching forward and catching hold of a long lock of blond hair, she yanked hard and then stepped back.

Okay, so it was a totally sissy, girly thing to do but it felt good.

Remi rubbed his stinging scalp as he growled ferociously at her; Lucille winced at the noise and the force of the vibrations then simply glowered back at him.

"What did you go and do a thing like that for?" Lucille snapped at him, "do you have any idea how humiliating that was? To be carted off like some prize for a bloody ancient Neanderthal in front of all the people I have to work with?"

"Possibly just about as humiliating as it was for me to stand there and be completely dismissed by my girlfriend!" Remi roared back, his voice drowning hers.

"Well, if you hadn't ordered me I might have been more inclined to -"

"All I wanted was to talk!" His voice boomed and even dimmed the thump of the music from the bar, Lucille threw up her arms in frustration yet she let out a mocking laugh. She wasn't deterred by his voice or his aggressive stance, even though he looked like he might very well run her into the wall.

"So now he wants to talk!" she shouted back, her voice already growing hoarse. "Isn't that what we were _supposed _to be doing yesterday? But communication and actually talking seems to be quite beyond your capabilities!"

"And that's what you're so pissed off about!" Remi cried with disgust, "you're freezing me out just because -"

"You're the one that froze me out!"

"Fuck this!" Remi growled and looked towards the door, Lucille felt her temper take a hold of her in a way it hadn't in years. She moved to stand before the door and even went as far as to try and push him back, her palms flat to his pecs.

"No! Fuck you!" She snarled, "You selfish son of a bitch! I have to find out you're a bear, a fucking Were-magic-bear-thing, then you drop the bombshell that I am now for all intents and purposes married to you! Mated to you, whatever! As if I don't have to deal with all this shit, with accepting the fact that what you are telling me is true and I'm not a damned psychotic, you go and just weird out on me!"

Remi didn't say anything, in fact he avoided her eyes making Lucille even angrier, she gave him an open hand slap on the shoulder. "I mean, what is that? You say lets go for a ride then suddenly start to clam up on me?"

Still he was silent and Lucille lowered her voice to try and ease her hurting throat, she was still breathing heavily. "I don't know, I mean, maybe it's my fault. Maybe I was coming on too fast for you, or maybe … maybe rather then me accepting all this crap, its you that doesn't want me anymore."

Lucille hated how her voice quivered but those last words were terrifying to her, Remi gave her a dark look.

"How can you think that?"

"What am I supposed to think? Hmm?" Lucille felt her lip quiver and she stared into a dark corner, willing her eyes to dry. "If it's not me, then what?"

"It's not you," Remi's voice was hard and his words were final, Lucille didn't know how she could feel such relief, such giddy relief, in the midst of feeling so angry and despairing.

"So its you, then? You're the one with the problem? It's something in your past, the people that hurt you?"

Remi felt dread and fear threaten to drown him so he made for the door, pushing past Lucille, but she used all her might so keep herself before the door handle. Remi pulled back knowing there was more then one way of leaving.

"If you even think about poofing yourself out of here, I swear. I swear Remi, I will walk out of that door and you will never see me again."

Remi attempted to move her again and this time she bit his hand, Remi cursed as he pulled back, not because she hurt him. She'd given him worse bites during sex, this was frustration and fear. The part of his soul that was all bear felt threatened and wanted to attack, it only held back because even as feral as the bear in him was it loved Lucille too. Lucille eyed him fiercely as she guarded the door.

"Stop avoiding the issue and talk to me! Meet my eyes! Fight me, Remi!"

"I have to fight everyone!" Remi shouted back, his voice breaking with the weight of his despair, "why must I fight you!"

"You choose to fight everyone, you don't have to!" Lucille felt her heart ache in the face of Remi's pain; she loved him too much to hurt him. "Remi, please just talk to me. I know there is something wrong, something is making you distant at a time when we should be at our closest."

Remi knew she was right and hated that he was putting such a strain on them, marring the perfection of what they had between them. But what happened to him was … a part of him. And for him to be able to give her all of himself the way she deserved, she would have to know his darkest secret. Remi moved away from the door and sat down on the bed, he lent forward with his elbows on his knees. Lucille waited for him to relax, or get as comfortable as possible with him being so tense, then she walked over and got to her knees and moved herself between his thighs. If she leaned in any closer her breasts would be crushed to his stomach and her stomach to his crotch, but this was time for intimacy that went that bit deeper then sex. Lucille reached up to gently move his hair from his eyes in tender brushing motions, Remi leant his head to her hand and stared into her face, he trailed the backs of two fingers down her cheek.

"You are so precious to me."

Lucille caught the hand and kissed it, "and you are to me."

Lucille watched as Remi's eyes flared with some deep emotion before his face closed down into a hardened mask, he blew out a sigh that sounded almost exasperated. Straightening and turning his face from her, Remi began to speak.

"Before - Before we met, I was, err, I was a bit of an asshole," Remi let out a self-deprecating laugh, "lets just say I was more of an asshole then I am now."

Remi lips formed a sexy kind of pout as he thought about what to say, Lucille wanted to touch his lips then, just run her finger over the lower lips smoothness. "I just wanted to fight all the time. I mean, there was no reason, the slightest hint of … I don't know, someone disrespecting me, joke or not, I would flip. I … I was a bully sometimes. I was a real prick."

Remi looked down at his hands, his fingers loosely locked together; Lucille gently placed her own in his and gave him a little squeeze, urging him to continue.

"Yeah, anyway, err, that was who I was. Then one night about a year or so ago, I walked out of a girl's house, I'd been out with - with people I was acquainted with. They weren't friends, just guys who liked hanging around me because I'm mean. I'd been drinking and fighting all night, picking fights, starting with people I had no business starting with. I went home to a girl's house, she was drugged up, drunk, and we had sex. That was about as intimate as getting hit by a train. I left her without a backward glance and walked out."

Remi was speaking to their clasped hands, he didn't see Lucille's face, he didn't want to know how she was reacting to what he was telling her. He didn't know why he was giving her so much back story, perhaps it was to make her realise what he already knew. He wasn't good enough for her. He never would be. He was too mean, too unfriendly and too selfish to be able to keep her. Plus his year of being caged and abused had fucked him up back ways, front ways and sideways.

"I was about to head home and shit went down," Remi shook his head, "and to think, the girl had asked me to stay. Had I just given into her and stayed that little bit longer it wouldn't have happened."

As much as Lucille didn't want to think about Remi with another woman, having the kind of seedy sex that he described, Lucille did not condemn him. During her teen years she had been very similar, she had no limits or boundaries that she wouldn't cross and that was why she could listen without wincing in disgust and still stroke his hair, wanting to soothe him.

"About four, five Arcadians cornered me, they jumped me … You know, even while they were beating on me I was still thinking, who gives a shit. I was thinking, yeah it'll hurt like hell in the morning but I'll survive. Then they slapped a _metriazo_ collar on me and _still _I was arrogant enough to believe that I would somehow get out of it, just because I had never been taken down before."

"What's a -"

"It keeps me in one form," Remi said then noting the look of confusion on Lucille's face scratched his head, "ah, Were-Hunters invented devices that could incapacitate one another. There are Tasers which send out electrical pulses, small doses of that shit can be a danger to a Were. It causes the cells in our body to go berserk and we are unable to hold either human or animal form, sometimes if there is too much static in one place a young Were will be forced to transform. It renders us completely immobile and too much will kill us." Remi stopped abruptly when he realised he was rambling, though Lucille looked as if she were interested. "Err, a _metriazo_ collar dampens a Were's magic. When put on, the wearer is unable to use any type of magic, if they do the collar will tighten around he … or she's neck, to the point where it could quite possibly take your head off."

Lucille gasped and her hands tightened on Remi's.

"I was lucky in the sense that they didn't put it on me while I was in human form. I was in my natural form when they slapped it on me and although it took away my magic I wasn't in danger of killing myself."

Lucille frowned and Remi elaborated. "If I was in human form not only would the pain have been unbearable, especially during the day, but also I would eventually have fallen asleep and my body would have naturally tried to change back to my Were form. Such a use of magic would trigger the collar into action and would likely sever my head."

"Why would they do such an evil thing?" Lucille whispered she stared at Remi wondering how he possibly survived such a vicious attack.

"I'm an animal, Lucille. I told you before, my species are split into two races and we've been at war since the day of our creation. The Arcadians believe they are kind and compassionate because they carry a human heart within their chest," Remi scoffed and so did Lucille; he raised a questioning brow at her.

"I don't put much by humanity, it's overrated."

Remi nodded, "I'm sorry for that, but you'll understand then why we hate Arcadians and their hypocrisy."

Lucille nodded, "carry on, Remi."

Remi was finally at the part that he was dreading, his stomach and heart were already shrivelling with shame.

"After dampening my magic and locking me in my base form, they beat me senseless. Please don't cry, Lucille!"

Remi words were full of anguish and Lucille with effort sucked it back, she cleared her throat. Remi was thankful for her control, seeing her cry would have made him want to spare her from his past and that would only put them back to where they were before, secrets and lies.

"When ah, when I woke up I was locked in a cage. And even then I was confident that I could get myself out, I was going to wait until my wounds healed a little before trying to escape but the next morning I was in pain again. The Arcadians had sold me for seventy dollars to a travelling carnival. Seventy fucking dollars was how much it cost to send my life down the toilet. The people there were … cruel, they started their training by beating me. I heard them talking about it once."

Remi's face was a mask of bitter contempt as he repeated those words he'd heard them say as they tormented him through the bars of the cage.

"'an animal needs to be beaten so it learns to fear its trainer, only then can it be tamed'."

Lucille was holding her breath and images of a gypsy wagon came into her mind …

"For months the abuse went on. They burnt me, they whipped me, they beat me with wood and chains. They starved me and then …"

Remi rubbed and scratched at his shoulder and forearm, his eyes skittering around the room looking at anything but Lucille; still she saw the tears of shame form in his eyes.

"Then …?"

"They broke me."

Lucille's heart broke for him and she bit her lip to try and stave off tears. Remi's face was haunted even if his whispered words were blank; he stared off into space and was reliving his past in his mind. Lucille even saw him wince a few times as he no doubt remembered his beatings. He was so proud and defiant; no wonder the experience had warped him as much as it had. Her poor, beautiful bear. A single tear slipped from his lashes and fell rapidly through the space between his knees, Remi didn't even seem to realise it, Lucille reached up and wiped the imperceptible dampness under his right eyes.

"You are Beau," Lucille whispered and Remi raised his head, wrenching himself back to the present, he stared into her face seeing the pity there and despising it.

"You thought I was just being sentimental when I told you you were the one to save me," Remi responded and that was as good a yes as she was going to get, yet in the back of her mind Lucille wondered had she always suspected the truth. Silence cropped between them, Lucille sat back on her heels her thumbs working idly over the rough skin of Remi's palms, the darkness around them had deepened and neither had bothered to turn on a light.

"They made me dance," Remi said quite suddenly, his words were being forced out through gritted teeth, his expression murderous. "They made me perform before people who paid to see animals degraded and abused. When I lost all hope of getting out I thought that one day my family would come for me, but that hope soon died too. And then I just existed. They'd feed me scraps before taking me back to a small, cramped cell where I would sit in my own filth and pray to die."

Remi felt the hatred surge and he let go of Lucille's hands so he could grip his hair, he pulled hard and the pain held his destructive rage in check. "Yeah, Arcadians are human alright. Only a human could do that to another living creature and be able to sleep at night."

"It's a wonder you let me near you," Lucille spoke her thoughts out loud, thinking of how Remi was right to hate her people so. She remembered the night she had set him free, how he hadn't even attempted to hurt her … Lucille didn't care what his family thought of him, she didn't care what Remi thought of himself, to her his soul was beautiful.

Remi took her face in his huge hands and cradled it, staring at her, his bright eyes burning with a love that was immeasurable.

"Lucille, you dragged me out of hell. Even my family didn't come for me, but you did. You're a goddess."

Lucille placed her hands over Remi's holding them to her face, "you're angry at them, aren't you?"

"Yes," he murmured, his thumbs stroking tenderly while his eyes were focused on her mouth, "yes, I am."

"I thought so."

"You haven't even condemned me," Remi whispered to her, his eyes flaring and narrowing on her lips as she spoke.

"For what?" Lucille gasped out; outraged that he would think she could possibly blame him for anything that had happened.

"For what I was. What I am. About that girl, about the fights."

"Remi, how can I possibly blame you for those things? Perhaps it is in your nature to be aggressive, who knows? But I won't criticize you for it. You haven't blamed me for my wild past."

"You had a reason to act that way," Remi bit out, he would not allow her to make light of what she went through, Lucille smiled at him and stroked his cheek.

"Perhaps but then as a young boy - or cub should I say," Remi gave a half hearted smile, "shouldn't your mother have tried to tame you a little. Kids need boundaries, you know. I mean you told me yourself, your cubs don't really mature until their late thirties, am I right?"

Remi nodded and Lucille smiled, satisfied, she sat up straighter, stretching her back and arms, she casually slipped her arms over his head and linked them around his neck. "You've been allowed to run wild your whole life; your mama never reined you in. But now you have me."

Lucille nuzzled her lips and nose to his, Remi pulled her closer and buried his face in her shoulder. Lucille held him tightly, stroking a hand through his hair and down his back. "You have me now, I'm keeping you in check, okay?"

Remi didn't reply, he just hid his face in her hair and allowed her scent to soothe him. He didn't believe it was possible but after revealing his past to Lucille, he felt a weight being lifted from his chest. She'd saved him again.

Remi felt Lucille pushing at his shoulders, he pulled back and she continued to push until he was lying back on the bed, then she crawled up beside him and wrapped her body around his so they could cuddle.

"Are you going to tell your brothers?"

"No," Remi didn't mean to sound so harsh to her, but he wanted there to be no argument about it, to his surprise Lucille didn't argue with him. "Do you think I should?" He said after a pause.

"Yes."

Remi didn't say anything, he was feeling a little sulky that she didn't entirely support him but after a few long moments he couldn't retain his curiosity. "Why?"

"Because they need to know what you've been through, they need to be told that while they act like happy family they allowed one of their own to be lost from the home and didn't do anything to bring him back. They should feel the shame of it."

Remi held her chin and raised her head so he could kiss her; he pulled back and gave her a proud smile. "You understand the ways of the Katagaria more then any human alive, I think. I have been blessed with one hell of a mate."

Lucille gave him a shy, modest smile and slowly slipped her hand down to capture his so she could bring it up and place it over her breast.

"I'm so sorry for what you went through, Remi," she whispered, her throat feeling tight, her anger and feelings of hurt had evaporated the instant he began to tell her of what he suffered. Remi cradled the beautiful soft pouch of silken flesh in his palm, feeling her heat through her shirt.

"I am not so … I - I can still protect you, Lucille. I'm not …" Remi could not bring himself to say weak but he didn't have to, Lucille was smiling at him in a way that made him grow hard yet melt.

"Remi, I have only ever felt safe in your arms. You have nothing to be ashamed of, and don't fear for me. I know you'll protect me. I only wish -"

"What?" Remi persisted when she broke off.

"I only wish I could carry your child. You would be a wonderful father."

Remi closed his eyes and imagined Lucille holding a cub that was of both her and him, knowing she would give it unconditional love. No one had ever said anything like that to him before and it humbled him, it made him want to mount her right then and show her love with his body and his words. He simply could not get enough of the way she made him feel … like a male, a protector.

"You are all I need, Lucille," Remi leant down to kiss her deeply, he moaned at the taste of her, she was divinity. "My heart is whole now I have you."

Lucille sighed and arched when Remi's hand that was moulded over her breast began to squeeze and fondle, she felt the button slip free and ached to feel his flesh against her own.

"I should go to work," Lucille whispered, making no move to retreat from her lover's embrace, Remi rolled her on her back and locked her to the bed with his body.

"Later."


	14. Chapter 14

Remi flashed himself back to his bedroom and Lucille looked up sleepily from his bed, smiling.

"That was quick," she said, her voice husky, Remi shot her a quick smile before flashing himself naked and slipping into bed behind her, curling his body around her warm one.

"Wasn't much there," Remi said through a yawn, covering his whole body with the quilt, feeling his eyes begin to close. Lucille moved to get out of the bed and Remi tightened his arms, Lucille laughed and struggled, Remi refused to let her go.

"Remi!" she tried to say sternly but the laugh in her voice spoilt it; Remi grumbled something before kissing the nape of her neck.

"Lucille, we've been up all night. You have worn me out woman, let's just sleep."

"I just want to check my bag and -" She cut off when Remi made a sulking noise, she laughed at him.

"Everything's there. I bought you clean clothes - which seems pretty pointless, seeing as I could have just conjured those for you - I even bought you your mail. Now can we, please, sleep?"

Lucille settled back into Remi's arms and closed her eyes, she knew when he had begun to fall asleep by the heaviness of his breathing and couldn't help tensing her body. She was perfectly fine with Remi being a bear but it freaked her out slightly when his skin changed so suddenly from smooth skin to thick fur. Lucille kept her eyes shut when she felt him change and let out a quiet, shuddering breath - who in the world would believe this! She was sleeping with a bear! A very affectionate bear, Lucille thought smiling when Remi sleepily repositioned his head so his muzzle was nestled into her shoulder, his hot breath tickling her. She left it for a few minutes until he was deeply immersed in sleep before getting up, she leant back down to place a kiss on top of his furry head. Picking up his shirt she slipped it over her naked body, loving how it smelt of him, how it consumed her body the way Remi's whole body did when he wrapped himself around her. Lucille found herself smiling at her good fortune, she'd never been this happy before, she'd never had a real serious relationship before. Yet she felt like her whole life was being shaped around Remi and she loved it, finally she was settled, finally she belonged. Lucille desperately wanted a shower, rather then wake Remi by traipsing in and out of the bathroom she decided to take everything in with her, she rifled through her bag, she laughed at the mix of clothes he'd pulled out of her wardrobe, including a skirt she hadn't worn in a year and sexy lingerie that had been bought for her as a practical joke at the office Christmas party.

It had been late afternoon when Remi came back from Lucille's apartment, after a long, leisurely shower where she had washed and dried her hair, creamed her skin and dressed with care, it was early evening and as she came out of the bathroom Remi was stirring in bed.

"Good evening," Lucille murmured as she crawled up the bed so she could kiss him as he flashed to his human form. Remi moaned at the contact of her lips, enjoying it immensely, he pulled back and eyed her through his rumpled hair.

"Evenin'," he croaked huskily, then saw what she was wearing and grinned. "I never thought I liked grey as a colour but damn …"

He played with the edges of the pleated skirt that was a little short for Lucille's liking but if it pleased him, so what? Lucille grinned wickedly when she felt his hand slide higher up her leg; she gave a yelp when he plucked the elastic of her panties that were more lines of lace then anything else. She pulled back quickly and stood before the bed in a demure pose, admittedly the grey skirt went nicely with the matching red vest and cardigan set, then was set off with the nice knee high boots, still this preppy look so wasn't her style.

"Do you like?" she asked coyly, Remi turned on his side to look at her, he propped his head up on his elbow and scorched her with his hot, perusing gaze. There was something about the way his long hair fell messily over his shoulder, the fair stubble on his chin and the way that he bit his lip that made Lucille's body loosen. It was taking most of her self-control not to jump him.

"Come here, I'll whisper to you," Remi's face was pure sin and it made Lucille feel even hotter.

"No way, the big bad bear might eat me!"

"I intend to …" Lucille practically threw herself on the bed and tried to wiggle under him, Remi was laughing so much he could barely hold himself up on his elbows to let her under him. She wanted him, he could see it in her eyes when she looked at him, not just when they wee in throes of making love, but even after when she would stroke back his hair and kiss him lovingly. She was everything to him. For a man that had been a selfish bastard his whole life to suddenly live for another being was stranger, it was even stranger to be happy about it. Remi lowered his head and nipped at the fullness of her breasts overflowing her bra, he groaned when his palm touched the silk of her thighs.

"I really like this skirt," he whispered.

"I look like a librarian," Lucille complained.

"Mmm, nice," he said in the same way someone might say delicious, "contrary to popular opinion, reading is very -" he nipped her nipple through the fabric, "very sexy. Biker chicks and models are so not my thing."

Lucille tried to make a cynical noise but it came out as a gasp when his teeth scrapped over her stomach, "the only way men like reading is when its playboy."

"Nope. If I walked in and saw you reading in a skirt like this … I think I should stop talking right there, I'm getting way too excited."

Lucille laughed loudly and held on to him, feeling like the most desired woman in the world.

Colt paused outside Remi's door when he heard the loud, dulcet laughter floating through the wood, then a deep rumbling chuckle. Colt couldn't help smiling, he was happy for his brother, truly, really, very happy. He moved away from the door and carried on towards his own room, he closed the door and took off his shirt and sighed with fatigue. When he looked up into the full length mirror he saw his sentinel markings etched across his face, so alike yet so different to everyone. He was apart but separate. He had the inherent dislike and distrust of nearly all the Katagaria refugees that sought sanctuary here, Colt sat down on his bed then flopped back, laying spread eagle on the quilt. He breathed in the scent of the freshly laundered bed linen; at least he had his family though. But he couldn't escape it, he was so very lonely. He longed for that someone whoever she was to find him, because right now his obligation was to Mama Lo and his family. He hoped whoever she was, she would forgive him for not searching for her yet, he hoped that wherever she was, she was not feeling the bitter ache of loneliness that way he was feeling it. Surrounded by those who had found love while she was still waiting for him.

He had once thought about just giving up his quest and settling for just someone, another were-hunter who had yet to find her mate, and building a life with them. Because not all were-hunter's love their chosen mates, some even despise them. Remi and Dev had been lucky, but Colt had watched Serre go through the pain of a broken heart when he had not been mated to his childhood love, Rachel.

Colt had nearly chosen to be with Rhiannon, an Arcadian bear who sought refuge at Sanctuary a year or so ago, they had grown close and there was a spark between them, but Colt could not bring himself to do it. He was still hanging on to the lingering dream that his mate was out there for him and if so to be with Rhiannon, a woman he might very well grow to care for deeply, if not love, was a betrayal of the missing woman. Rhiannon had left Sanctuary disappointed, Colt had a feeling she too had entertained the thought of settling for him, perhaps more seriously then he had. Colt hissed out a breath and closed his eyes, perhaps he would just let fate decide.

* * *

When they descended to the lower part of the house, Remi was feeling tired, sore but completely at ease with the world. Lucille was holding his hand walking very close to him; Remi knew she was a bit self-conscious in front of his family so was glad that for once that the family kitchen was empty. Like the perfect gentleman he had become - only around Lucille, but who needed to know - Remi pulled out the chair and settled her at the table, then set about making his woman something to eat.

"Will you let me help?" Lucille said with a laugh in her beautiful voice, "you look like you're starting to panic."

"No, I can do this - shit! I swear I am going to throw this fucker at the wall!" Okay so he wasn't that at ease with the world.

Remi shook his hand that the pot had burnt, wondering why he'd even attempted to make something as difficult as rice. He looked back at Lucille, she held a hand over her mouth but her eyes were laughing at him, rather then being the slightest bit offended at his language or his quick temper, she simply moved him out the way and took over.

"That is a hard recipe," Remi defended himself, irritated by her smug expression.

"What the ready made sauce that comes in a jar or the chicken that is already cooked?"

"You're such a comedian," Remi groused, not the slightest bit offended at her gently teasing, compared to what he got off of his brother's she was practically complimenting him.

"Yes, I am. Hey, why don't you cut up some onions and peppers and pour the wine, this won't be very long."

Remi did as she asked; he poured her wine and got himself a beer, then proceeded to show his inexperience with a kitchen knife by mutilating the sweet peppers. Chunks of green, red and yellow of different size, length and varying states of shredded went into the pan with the sauce, Lucille laughed and Remi shrugged.

"I get too enthusiastic with knives," he said simply, Lucille laughed again, she usually did when he used the innocent, I've-always-done-it-this-way type of excuse. He knew she could see right through it but the gentle teasing was wonderful, so homely and loving. He could be whoever he wanted with her and she wouldn't mind, even himself.

He took the onion and she eyed it ominously, "you know how to cut them?"

"Oh yeah, you take something sharp, lets say a -" Remi pretended to look round then jumped in surprise as if he had just spotted the knife. "Oh wow, a knife. Oww!"

Remi laughed when Lucille punched his shoulder, "now who's the comedian. What I mean is they make you cry. It's bad enough I know you're as adorable as a teddy bear."

Remi held up the knife threateningly and Lucille snorted at him, instead of being scared she worked her way between his arms so her back was to his front. She took his hands in hers.

"Okay, I'm going to teach you how to cook. Don't cut straight through the core of the onion, that's what lets off the strongest smell and it's what makes you cry."

Remi slipped his arms around her waist and watched how she skilfully and with speed peeled the onion, chopped it into small equal pieces then threw them in the pan.

Remi sat across from her when they finally sat down to their meal, the aromas from the sauce and chicken were beautiful and the rice, mainly his doing, was a little sticky but nice all the same. He was loading up his spoon, when Lucille got up grabbed some kitchen towel, folded it and placed it by his beer, she sat back down and carried on eating. It was then, however, that Remi had the biggest realisation of all. For so long his every waking moment had been consumed with rage and hate, he'd wanted to hurt all that had been near him. To be angry all the time was exhausting physically and mentally, he'd felt emotionally drained of everything but badness, he hadn't thought there was any room left in him for love, compassion, and friendship. But it here, now, with Lucille that he'd experienced his first moments of true piece, when his every emotion was a good one, where all he was thinking about was how good the food tasted and smelt, how wonderful the company was. All he was remembering was remembering was tickling Lucille so she would let him get his hand further up her skirt. All he wanted was for her to look at him and laugh. Even before his capture Remi had never felt this way, and the truth was choking him. To force down the lump in his throat Remi took a long draught of beer and blinked until his eyes cleared, he took a spoonful of rice and chicken and moaned at how great it was.

"So I wanted to talk to about something," he said cautiously, Lucille looked up, her face expectant.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, well, I wanted to know what you would think about mating with me."

Lucille paused with her spoon halfway to her mouth, "oh," she said a little breathlessly, Remi shifted uncomfortably, he didn't want to force her into anything, he wanted her to want to do it.

"You see a mating is like a human marriage … only we don't have the luxury of having a long engagement like humans."

"Yeah," Lucille said in a dazed kind of way.

"And, well … when we mate, it is literally til death do us part. There is no such thing as divorce."

Remi took a deep breath before he continued, "I'm telling you all this, not to scare you but I figured the three weeks are ticking along now and - not that I want to rush you or anything! I mean it's entirely your choice, we couldn't do it unless it's your choice …"

Remi trailed off, he looked down at his plate and his food suddenly took on the look and taste of cardboard, she was going to reject him. Not because she didn't love him, he believed she did, but she came from a world that had an out clause, to be tied to someone for the whole your life, unable to get away from them. Remi could not drag his eyes away from the plate, but he could not stop himself from speaking pride be damned.

"Please choose me," he begged so quietly that Lucille barely heard him; it caused her such pain that she had to rub her chest that felt so tight.

"Of course I'll mate with you, silly. I love you."

Remi's breath whooshed out of him and he laughed more with relief then happiness, Lucille was looking him with an expression that said she knew how worried he'd been.

"So how do we do this?" Lucille asked excitedly, Remi waited until he'd swallowed he's food, for some reason he'd regained his appetite.

"Well, it's like a wedding in a sense that it binds us but that's where the comparison ends. Matings are very private rituals."

"Okay, so no witnesses?"

"Not for what we're doing," Remi chuckled and Lucille looked wary, "don't worry. What happens is that I lay on my back -"

"Naked?" Lucille asked anxiously.

"Yep. And you straddle me. Naked," he added huskily. His eyes half closed as he looked at her imagining it, Lucille couldn't help a blush that jumped up into her cheeks, even though she was smiling. "Then we connect our marked palms, you take me into your body of your own freewill, without any help from me. We say the ritual words and then it's done."

"Uhuh," Remi's voice had deepened and was laced with such erotic tones that she could barely keep the drool from her chin.

"When can we mate?" Lucille asked and Remi beamed at her, he leant over and took her hand in he's, rubbing his thumb over her palm.

"How about tomorrow? We won't do it here."

"We won't?"

"No. We'll go somewhere special, its gonna be the start of the rest of our lives together. So we've got to make it special."

"You're so perfect," Lucille whispered, unable to believe her good luck, to be mated to the most thoughtful romantic man she'd ever met. She controlled the urge to look under the table to see if her feet were now a puddle, because he was melting her like butter in a hot pan.

Remi smiled, "That's something I've never heard said in the same sentence as me before. Listen, another thing I've been thinking about is, well, were-hunters don't really have any big celebration for a mating. I mean, like I said it's a private affair between the couples. I suppose some families do, but in general no. But since your human, I don't want you to feel like your buying completely into my world and getting nothing back. Do you want a human wedding?"

"Oh, um," Lucille was taken aback by that; she had to think about it. She didn't have any human family really, and yeah she had some friends, but she could just explain that away by saying she and Remi went away to the Caribbean or Europe to marry on their own. "I don't know. I'll think about it. I don't really like the thought of standing in front of everyone, having them stare at me. But the mating is the most important thing. Can I decide later?"

"Anything you want."

"Cool, food! Can I have some?"

Remi and Lucille looked to the door and saw Kyle sniffing the air hungrily, Remi groaned and Lucille threw him a censoring look which he ignored.

"Of course you can, Kyle. Let me fix you a plate."

Lucille got up and moved to the stove while Kyle seated himself next to her, Remi watched as she piled the plate up for the young bear and his heart swelled with love.

* * *

Remi said they were going to head out for the night, Lucille had no idea where to but her life needed a bit of excitement. Maybe they were going to do a combined bachelor and bachelorette party? That was pretty sad if they were, she did have enough friends to fill a party of her own! Lucille looked up at Remi's beautiful, granite hard face, like the face of a rebel angel; no wherever they were going it wasn't a bachelorette party. And he wasn't letting on, so Lucille resigned herself to the mounting excitement and anticipation of the unknown. Holding his hand Lucille allowed herself to be led through Sanctuary bar and out onto the street, at the door Dev was playing bouncer. He was sitting on a chair by the door with Sera, his mate, on his lap.

"You to going anywhere nice?" Sera said in that naturally friendly way she had, even though she and Lucille barely knew each other.

"I don't know and he's not telling," Lucille nudged Remi and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, well, Remi as the next Don Quixotic, who knew!" Dev said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"That's Don Quixote, dumbass," Remi responded quickly and Dev shrugged good-naturedly.

"Don't let him fool you, Lucille," Sera said, giving Dev a mock fierce look, "all the Peltier men are romantics at heart. They try to make out they're tough but their just …" Dev covered Sera's mouth with his hand.

"Teddy bears?" Lucille finished for her and Sera cracked out a loud laugh, while Remi and Dev both groaned.

"I told you never to say that when we were in company!" Dev grumbled and winked at Lucille. "Everyone we'll forget I'm bad ass now."

"I never noticed you were badass before," Remi said with a laugh.

"You know, if I knew Remi was this much fun, I'd have suggested a double date."

"Or how about I take you down to the swamp and let you have a date with the Celt's gators?" Remi growled but he was smiling all the same, Lucille wasn't sure if she was the only one who'd seen it but something shifted in Dev's eyes, something deep and powerful when he looked at his brother and it made her feel strange.

"You kids go on and have fun," Dev said, his voice lower but his wicked grin still in place, "we won't wait up will we baby?"

Sera laughed and gave him a smack upside the head, "have fun."

Just as Remi was about to tug Lucille away, she spotted someone coming towards them and gasped, "Mason!"

The man that stopped in front of them gave her a snide smirk. "Lucille," he inclined his head to her then shifted his eyes to Remi, Dev and Sera.

"Bears," he inclined his head again. Dev and Remi stiffened immediately, Phillip Jenkins Mason was entirely human - as far as Lucille knew anyway - and Remi had explained that they kept a limit on the amount of humans they allowed into their world. Most of the time it barely reached two digit numbers. Mason didn't seem like the type that Remi, Dev or any of the Peltier clan for that matter would be involved with. He was too vicious, snide and crafty, he was greedy and callous and laughed at other people's misfortune, he was a bully. He was also a lawyer.

"Lucille, Sera go inside," Remi ordered and Lucille would have normally have bulked at being ordered anywhere but any excuse to get away from Mason was fine with her. He tortured her over her dismissed from the firm, he was practically ecstatic when he found out what it was over.

"Actually its Lucille I've come to speak to."

"What do you want, Mason?" Lucille said, not bothering to keep the contempt from her voice, Remi noticed this and she saw him shift in front of her, perhaps getting prepared to crack a skull or two.

"You better come in," Dev said, he looked deeply suspicious and it showed in his voice, she saw Remi and Dev exchange looks. Mason walked in to Sanctuary ahead of Dev and Sera with Lucille and Remi pulling up at the rear.

"What is it?" Lucille murmured to Remi, Remi kept his eyes on the back of Mason's head, but his arm came around her shoulders and tucked her into him.

"He reeks of Arcadian," Remi sneered, "he must work for them. That's only reason he'd be here, only reason he'd be cocky enough to come alone. He must know this is a Limani."

Lucille felt Remi's arm tighten, she sensed trouble coming.

* * *

Mason was seated in front of the desk in Mama Lo's office, Mama wasn't there but Dev, Sera and Colt were. Sera stood with her back against the door, Dev on Mason's left sitting on a cabinet watching him. Colt was nearer on the right, with his back to a radiator; perhaps he had positioned himself there so he could intercede if Remi tried to rip the guy's throat out. He looked like he was contemplating it. Remi was next to Lucille, both of them with their butts perched on the edge of the desk, with their arms crossed over their chest, looking at Mason.

"How did you find me?" Lucille asked and Mason flicked his eyes towards Remi before answering.

"I contacted Michelle, she said you told her you were working at a local biker bar," there was a definite sneer in his voice and Lucille felt the heat sting her cheeks.

"I find honest work agrees with me," Lucille quipped, Dev let out a laugh, Colt and Sera grinned at each other. Remi almost managed a smile but it made him look psychotic with his eyes so fixed on Mason. Mason didn't say anything else, his eyes kept going back to Remi, Lucille concealed her smile.

"So Michelle told you _where _to find me. Now why did you _want _to find me?" Lucille asked she saw a bead of sweat trickle down his neck.

"I'm here representing my client," Mason moved and so did Remi, which made Mason go stock still. Lucille laughed cruelly at Mason's discomfort and put a placating hand on Remi's arm, he relaxed immediately, Mason however blanched. He saw the mating mark on her hand and obviously knew its significance and it made him piss his drawers.

"You were saying?" Colt prompted, Lucille sent him a smile, none of them had any idea what it felt like to be supported so firmly. It was like having a family, and she was so grateful. Mason once again - though much, much slower - reached down for his briefcase; he flicked it open and bought out a pristine, manila folder full of documents.

"My employer was the late Arcadian Regis of the Ursulan clan, his name is Dimitri Barbossa," Mason paused, but no one gave any recognition of knowing who the guy was, so he continued. "Mr. Dimitri's last will and testimony was opened last night by me, only I know of its contents and it concerns you."

Mason looked directly at Lucille who looked nonplussed, "how can it? Except for Remi and his family I've never known any other bears. I didn't even know were-hunters existed!"

"All the same. Once you know of the contents you'll find it is such a coincidence," Mason opened the will and began to read.

"'_I, Dimitri Lucian Stephano Barbossa, being of sound mind and in the presence of these here witnesses, Phillip Jenkins Mason and Janet Margaret Barbossa, do hereby declare that upon my death that all wealth and worldly goods I possess do lawfully pass unto my mate and wife, Janet Margaret Barbossa.'"_

"My -?"

"Your sister, yes. But there's more, if you'll wait a moment."

Lucille may not like Mason but there was no doubt he was a grade A lawyer, he was merciless and quick. He was also damn expensive; he would only be here in person for a very special client with a very big bank account.

"This is your sister's will -"

"What?" Lucille whispered, Mason looked up, "Janet's dead?"

"Yes, didn't you know?" Mason said with complete indifference, Remi growled and put his arm around Lucille's shoulders, but she was too numb to feel them. "What - I mean, how? How did my sister die? Why wasn't I there?"

Mason put down the paper he was about to read with obvious impatience, it was quite clear he wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

"She and her mate were bonded. Mr. Barbossa regrettably died after a very brief battle with cancer; your sister had no choice but to follow."

"Did she …" Lucille cleared her throat, "tell me she didn't die alone."

Remi tightened his strong hold.

"She did not," for once Mason's voice was soft, "she died with her mate."

Mason seemed unable to figure out what to do with his hands so he flicked through his folder and pulled out an envelope that had been opened and one that was sealed with red wax. He pulled a single folded piece of paper from the opened envelope and began to read.

"'_Dear Mr. Mason,_

_As you know my husband, a respected client of yours, Dimitri Barbossa, is terminally ill and we have been informed that it will be a matter of days until he passes. My husband spoke very highly of you and I was told you organised the drawing up of his will. I am not sure whether the situation has been made known to you, but my husband and I are bonded in the ay of his people and I will shortly follow my husband when the unfortunate time comes. I enclose a copy of demands I wish to make for my own will and would like you sir, at your earliest convenience to draw up my will and then deliver it to me so it may be signed in the presence of yourself and my husband._

_Yours sincerely, _

_Janet Barbossa'_"

At this point Mason held up the sealed envelope, he waited and Lucille nodded, he broke the red wax seal with a sharp snap and unfolded it, Lucille looked at Remi who gave her a sympathetic squeeze, she huddle closer to him.

"And so it reads: '_I, Janet Margaret Barbossa, being of sound mind and in the presence of these here witnesses, Phillip Jenkins Mason and Dimitri Lucian Stephano Barbossa, do hereby declare that on my death sole guardianship of my only son, Manuel Carlos Dimitri Barbossa, go to my only sister, Lucille Michelle Renn. I pass into her keeping of all my earthly wealth and possession until my son is of lawful age. I wish for her to act as advisor to him and raise him the best way she knows how. It is the only gift I may leave her that is untainted._'"

"Signed your sister, see her signature is there."

Mason tried to show her but all Lucille could see was the sudden concaving of the walls and the air in the room felt like she was trying to breath in smoke. Remi waved Mason away and gripped Lucille's shoulder.

"Lucille, look at me!"

His voice sounded so far away, almost as if they were in space, her arms felt like lead.

Remi saw Lucille's eyes roll back in her head and scooped her up in his arms before she slid off the desk. He held her close to him, watching her closely as her head rolled back on her neck, Colt, Sera and Dev rushed forward.

"Remi take her to Carson," Sera advised.

"She's not sick, she's just in shock," Dev said, earning him a scathing glare from Sera.

"Take her anyway; he might be able to bring her round. Or give her something for the shock."

Remi nodded, his heart beating a tattoo against his throat, "he goes no where," Remi's voice was bestial as he stalked out of the room, there was an audible gulp as the door swung shut and three sets of eyes fixed on the lawyer.


	15. Chapter 15

**(Hope you like this. Thank you for all the reviews!)**

"She'll wake up …" Carson said, waving some evil smelling tissue under Lucille's nose, "any - minute - now."

Lucille opened her eyes slowly and saw Carson, "hi," she murmured, making Carson laugh.

"Hey kid," he replied kindly, then looked at Remi, "she's way too good for you, my son."

"Don't I know it," Remi murmured and moved forward so he was kneeling by her pillow, Lucille tried to sit up, but Remi laid a hand on her chest to keep her still, all the while she didn't look into her eyes.

"I didn't know," she whispered, she gaze met his then, "I had no idea she was with someone, that she had a baby. Damn it!"

She suddenly sat up regardless of Remi's hand, her legs hung off the bed and she put her head in her hands.

"I had no clue she was even pregnant, she didn't tell me anything!"

"I know."

"I mean, how could she do this!"

"I know."

"Family aren't supposed to just do this to one another!"

"I know."

Lucille closed her mouth and looked at Remi, her face was a mixture of anger and hurt, the fact that her sister knew about the were-hunter world was mated to a bear no less and had a son had shocked her to her very core.

"Yeah, you do know, don't you?" Lucille said to herself, without a word she sank herself into Remi's arms. "You are the only place I feel safe."

"Good. Because I'll always be here, okay?"

Lucille pulled back slowly, "even now?"

"What do you mean?"

"We were going to be mated …"

"What do you mean 'were'?" Remi demanded angrily, his voice rising more out of fear then temper, Lucille pushed her hands through her hair in agitation. She got up and began to pace.

"Didn't you hear him down there? My sister has left me her son. My nephew is somewhere out there in the world waiting for me to come and get him, then I'll have to raise him. I can't ask you to do that Remi."

"Why not?" Remi demanded again, his eyes full of fire and determination.

"Remi, I am barely capable of looking after myself, how the hell am I going to cope with a kid. I am in no way prepared for this -" Lucille heard her voice quiver and she prayed she could hold herself together, but the enormity of what had happened, and of what the future now held for her scared the crap out of her.

Lucille felt her legs begin to shake, "I can't ask you to be apart of this when I don't even know what _this _is!"

Remi still looked angry. "Aren't you listening to me, Remi!"

"Are you listening to me?" Remi marched across the room and caught her head in his big paw-like hands, he gave he a little shake, "when I tell you I love you I mean it. When I say you are my mate I mean it. You think because there's suddenly something huge and unexpected in front of us that I'll cut and run, that I'll leave you to face it alone. Is that what kind of man you think I am? How can you have so little faith in me, after all this time?"

"It's me I lack faith in, Remi," Lucille said weepily, Remi pulled her into his body, settling her against his chest. It was how the term bear hug became invented; he wrapped his arms around her so tightly that it allowed Lucille to fall apart while Remi held her together. She gave into the urge and wept bitterly, for her sister who she should have been with, for not knowing, for not spending enough time. For the uncertainty of the future. She was so scared. And worst of all she feared that Remi was now truly only staying with her because of his mating mark, had it not been there, would he really have stayed?

Lucille pulled away and swiped her eyes hastily, "enough of this now. Enough."

She drew a long shaky breath, "I suppose I've become a step-mom, kind of. Oh, I'll think about that later," she scolded herself; instead she looked up at Remi, who was watching her with no little amount of pride in his eyes. He loved the way she turned to him, broke down for mere moments, and then started yanking herself back together.

"How do you feel about this? Truthfully?" she asked, her large eyes staring up at him, Remi exhaled slowly and gave a half shrug, which was the closest to an honest answer he could give. He'd been so worried about Lucille he hadn't had time to think of himself.

"Because you've now become an uncle slash father figure," Lucille's voice was firm, as if she wanted to force the bad stuff on him to see mettle of the man she was tied to.

Remi sat down on the bed; he'd never thought much about being a father to anyone, not in the very real sense of the word. Even when he found himself mated to Lucille, children had never been a high priority and even if they had been, he'd banished it because he knew the chances were virtually impossible. He thought of the kid, Lucille was taking him in there was no doubt in her mind. And if he asked, which he never would because it was against everything that was in him, she would choose the child over him, she could do no other. But that was how it should be. For a woman who had spent most of her own childhood in such places, Lucille would not stand for her own kin growing up in a place like that. Remi thought of his own family and how they had left him languishing in a prison without a care, he thought of how he resented them, even now.

Perhaps this would prove how tough he really was? Because Remi wasn't giving up Lucille, and Lucille wasn't giving up on her nephew, he looked at her standing before him rearing to go. It made him smile, thinking what she would do if it were in fact her own cub. The child was in the world now, lost and abandoned in a heartless, cruel world that had no time for orphans or those that couldn't pay their way. _Abandoned_. The word resonated through Remi's soul.

"Well," he said at last, "we can't have our own children; we might as well raise him as our own."

Relief crumpled Lucille's face, "you will," she breathed, Remi rolled his eyes.

"You know, I am getting kind of sick of you thinking I'm going to cut and run at the first bump in the road," he reprimanded her, Lucille laughed and came forward.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," she put her arms around his neck and hugged him close, "thank you."

"I'm not promising you anything great, okay? I've never raised a kid before; I'm bound to make mistakes -"

"Well, me too," Lucille said excitedly, practically bouncing with joy.

"_But _… I come from a fairly good family and I have lots of nieces and nephews. That should amount to something."

Remi took a fortifying breath; he had now committed himself, more or less to becoming a father. God help the little bastard.

"He's Arcadian, Remi, is that going to be a problem for you?"

"A child is a child," he said simply, and Lucille felt her heart swell. It was all she needed to hear.

"You are such a wonderful man!" she said interspersing her words with small kisses all over his face.

"Everybody good in here?"

Remi and Lucille looked up and saw Dev at the door, looking anxious, Lucille beamed.

"Isn't your brother a wonderful man?"

"Is that a trick question?" Dev said seriously and Lucille laughed, "look the lawyer asshole is still here. Shall we kick him out the door? Keep him strapped to the chair? What?"

"You strapped him to the chair?" Lucille asked horrified, she watched Dev pull the same innocent look Remi always did and went to the door shaking her head. "You're worse then Remi."

Remi watched as she stalked off and Dev followed her, most likely teasing her, Remi wasn't that surprised when Carson appeared at the door; he paused for a beat then came and sat down beside him.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So … a kid, huh?"

"Yep."

"Are you okay with that?"

"Of course. Besides Dev did it."

Remi knew Dev had fallen in love with the huge brood that was Sera's younger brothers and sisters whom she had believed lost and dead in her clan's civil war.

"Man, I got to take my hat of to you though. I mean, Dev did it obviously. Colt I could see doing this definitely. Quinn maybe. Serre to."

"Yeah, well, love doesn't alter when it alteration finds."

There was silence and then, "you're a good man, Remi, a good bear."

"Thanks hawk."

"Anytime."

Carson got up and left him and Remi pulled himself out of his thoughts to go to his mate.

* * *

Lucille sat on Remi's bed, in one hand she held a bra and in the other a folded pair of jeans, she had been meaning to pack her case for the last half and hour so she could be ready to take a trip out of state to collect her nephew. She knew so little of the boy, how could she possibly be a suitable guardian? Of course, there would be no way on earth she would let any family of hers be raised in the way she had, in the place she had seen her childhood years. But even so, would it be healthy for him to be raised with Remi's family? Lucille resisted the urge to smack herself on the forehead. Where better could a half breed were-child be raised? Unless Janet had known about Lucille and Remi, and Lucille couldn't see how that was possible, what would have possessed Janet to leave her only son - a half breed were-bear at that - with a human who knew nothing of the world in which her son belonged? Although Lucille had mentioned that when she lost her job she was working in Sanctuary, a biker bar, perhaps Dimitri Barbossa knew of Sanctuary - of what it really was. It was possible, even probable, wasn't it? She would have to ask Remi.

Slowly a roughened palm caressed her throat ever so gently; Lucille warmed at Remi's touch and took his hand in hers, and kissed it lovingly.

"Thinking?"

"Yeah. Just thinking …"

"About the kid?"

"Yes, about him. About Janet. Everything really." Lucille turned to look at Remi who was standing behind her. "Remi, do you think Janet knew about you and me?"

"Why?"

"Well, I can't see how she was able to persuade Dimitri, or even herself, that her son was better off in the hands of a human who - for all she knew - knew nothing of the were-hunter world. I mean, what if he transformed and I called the X-files on him?"

"She knew you wouldn't," Remi said simply, with a smile in his voice, Lucille turned her back on him with a noise of disgust.

"She couldn't know that."

"Yes, she did. She knew you were too kind, to smart and far, far too loyal."

Lucille dropped her bra and jeans unceremoniously into her open case and flopped back on to the bed, Remi came around and sat on it.

"I would never have guessed were-hunters would ever be able to die from a human disease," Lucille murmured, Remi stretched himself out next to her on his side and began to stroke her hair back from her forehead.

"We are immune to nearly every human disease there is. It's very rare for a were-hunter to fall victim to any kind of disease, except a few that takes away our magic, but even then that's nearly unheard of. But we are fundamentally either human or animal, and both species contract cancer. It's been heard of."

"That - _really _- sucks," Lucille said with a slight pout.

They lay in silence for a long time, Lucille staring at the ceiling, her mind trying to absorb what she now knew and Remi with his eyes closed, rock solid beside her body, soothing her with his delicate stroke of his hand.

"Why did my sister die when her mate died? Was that magic?" Lucille looked at Remi, he frowned and then slowly his lids rose and revealed that startling blue.

"It's a very old kind of magic. The fates dictated who we were mated to as a punishment, yet as in the case with you and me, it's not always such a bad thing. Bonding came about when aeons ago, when my people found out the power that lay in a blood exchange. Mated couples perform a bonding ceremony so as to tie their souls together. Its said to be such a deep and binding type of magic that not even the fates themselves can break it apart, it's the joining of two souls that don't ever want to be separated. It even supersedes death, reuniting the couple once more in their next life."

"How do you do it?" Lucille whispered her eyes as wide as saucers.

"You repeat the mating vows and it calls forth the _thiro_ - the bonding instinct, we must exchange blood for it to be completed. It's said to be an experience that unites two people closer then anything in the world. Your sister died because she chose to bond with her mate, as a human it meant that she would live a practically immortal existence. When the rest of the people she knows perished, she would live on and on, not reaching her old age until another four or five hundred years, perhaps longer."

"But she died …"

"Because her mate died. That's the choice she made, to live and die with him. The only reason a female will not die immediately is when she is pregnant, the moment she births her young she will rejoin her mate."

"That's so romantic yet I find it sad."

"I suppose it is."

Again that silence arose and this time it was Remi who broke it, "I'm coming with you."

"No, you don't have to -"

"I want to come; I want you to be protected."

"Remi -" Lucille paused trying to find the words, "I don't know why, but this is something I need to do on my own. Janet and I, for all our differences, were like two halves of the same whole almost. We had some kind of bond and I feel like I need to honour that in some way, some private way."

Remi still didn't look appeased, "its not that I don't understand that, Lucille. It's just … I couldn't bear it if anything happened to you. I need to know that you're protected."

"I'll be fine," she insisted. Remi, knowing he could deny her nothing and having already given into her the moment she'd asked, hid his face in her shoulder with a groan. Lucille smiled, reaching out to stroke his curls; she cupped his head and kissed his ear through his hair.

"Will you mate with me tonight, Remi?"

Remi raised his head and on his face was an expression of the tenderest love, "yes."

"Now?" she said it as if she was unsure of his answer, and that little insecurity made Remi smile at her, didn't she know she was giving him his dream. Remi answered her by reverently kissing her lips, he stood up and took her hand, bring her to stand before him. Her eyes were huge as she stared up at him with the same kind of awe she had the first day she'd met him, it still sent shivers down his spine. There was wonder in her stare, awe and admiration, it made him feel strong and powerful, he saw himself through her eyes and he liked what he saw. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, wanted her to really know the lengths he would go to, to make her safe and happy. But words seemed cheap, besides people put too much store by them. Using his fingers and lips, Remi sang to her of his adoration, his pride and joy at having her, in his touch was poetry describing his lust and desire for her and her alone. With reverence he slipped the buttons of her cardigan from their holes and let it fall from her shoulders, unveiling her. Remi took his time removing her clothes, when her top half was bare, he took long, languid minutes kissing her pretty shoulders, nuzzling her breasts and touching his tongue to her flat, soft stomach, using all of his senses to make love to her.

On his knees Remi undid the buttons of her skirt and let it fall around her ankles, he began the arousing process of kissing and nibbling her thighs, the backs of her knees where she was ticklish and then higher. He curled his fingers over the waist band of the sexy panties that he barely noticed and looked up into her face.

"Take down your hair for me," he sad in a husky voice, Lucille complied immediately although with unsteady hands. When the tumble of thick locks fell, Remi's breath caught, never had he expected to be mated. And though his senses defied it, he couldn't quite convince himself of what was actually happening. It was too surreal to believe that he, Remi Peltier, had found someone - a human no less - who loved him.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," he murmured, then he focused back on his prize, he pulled her panties away from her legs and stared at her most private part. Then he stood up pulled her close, he felt a shiver run through her body, felt one in his own.

Lucille's hands went to Remi's shirt, she wanted to make him feel what she had just felt, she wanted to touch him the way he had touched her, like she were his dream. Lucille helped him get the shirt over his head and off his body; her eyes went immediately to the scar at his throat. Standing on tiptoes, she lean in and kissed across the line of jagged flesh, all the while running her hands slowly up his arms and over his broad, thick shoulders. Across his pecs where she ran her fingertips around his nipples, she felt his breath catch and smiled, she walked her fingers across his abs and down the line of hair that led to the waistband of his jeans and below.

He's gaze locked intently on her when she pressed light butterfly kisses to his chest while her hands made busy with his buttons and flies, once they were open she reached inside and took him into her hand. He was hard and ready for her, she let his jeans pool on the floor and kept her hold on his sex while he stepped out of them, then she began to stroke him, loving how masculine he felt. Remi leant closer; his eyes clenched tight, his body racked with pleasure so he had to speak through gritted teeth.

"Lay down on the bed," he ordered, Lucille smiled saucily and did as he said, her body feeling sensitive and decadent against his clean, cold sheets. Her body erupted with goose bumps and her nipples grew harder as the cold air blew over her. Remi prowled towards her and his eyes were practically glowing, he sank his knees on to the mattress then crawled further up until his head was level with her knees. He lowered his mouth and began to kiss them, moving his mouth higher towards her thighs, Lucille knew instinctively what he wanted and parted her legs obediently, and Remi laid his body down between her spread thighs. Without removing his gaze from her glistening sex Remi found Lucille's marked hand with his own and laced his fingers with hers, Lucille watched him closely and saw the joy that was almost painful cross his face before he lowered his head and she felt a stab of pleasure lick through her. His kiss there was teasing and gentle yet he drove her crazy and Lucille couldn't control how her hips bucked wildly against his mouth, he chuckled darkly, but was careful not to bring her to release. Pulling back Remi moved farther up the bed and lay on his back. He looked over at Lucille who was breathing raggedly; she looked back at him and whipped herself up and on top of him before he could open his mouth to tell her what to do.

"Was that part of the ritual?" Lucille asked, leaning down so she could kiss him, Remi laughed.

"No, I just added that bit on," he replied, watching the way her flushed breasts rose and fell with her breathing, Lucille laughed.

"So inventive," she said between kisses.

"Well, I have to keep you excited."

Lucille nuzzled his scarred throat before pulling back and waiting expectantly for instruction, Remi gulped, the time was nearing.

"Lace your marked palm with mine," he whispered, barely heard over the heavy panting that filled the room, it took him a while to realise it was coming from him. Lucille licked her dry lips anxiously and did as he said; she immediately felt a kind of heat that had never been present before when they had connected.

"Now," Remi said, his voice was husky, "now take me into your body."

Lucille nodded and for a brief moment fear seemed to flicker over her face, but it was gone before Remi was sure what he'd seen. He watched as she reached between their bodies and found him with her hand, erect and hard for her body; she positioned him at her entrance and without hesitation slowly slid herself on him. So slowly Remi watched as the inches of him disappeared into her body, feeling her stretch to accommodate him, the warmth in their connected palms intensified and Remi felt Lucille grip his hand tighter. He wanted to assure her that should she want to she could back out but he was ashamed to admit he wasn't that noble, he couldn't let her go, he had to have her, possess her, every inch of her. Lucille was to nervous to move so she stayed still waiting for Remi to tell her what to do.

"Say these words: I accept you as you are."

"I accept you as you are."

"I will always hold you close in my heart."

"I will always hold you close in my heart."

"I will walk beside you forever."

Lucille smiled shyly, and it took him back to the day they'd first met, "I will walk beside you forever."

Remi smiled and for once refused to hide the welling of tears in his eyes, his gratitude to her was enormous. He repeated them back to her truth and love echoing in his every word, suddenly his back arched and he felt the pain of the _thiro _rack his body. Lucille gasped and her thighs tightened on his hips as she tensed, Remi, however, welcomed the pain of it. It meant he was mated; he was finally experiencing what most of his brothers had.

"It's just the _thiro_, baby," he hissed, "don't be scared."

"The bonding instinct?"

Remi nodded, Lucille felt her heart kick up a gear.

"Remi, I do love you but I - I'm scared …"

"Lucille, I would never ask you to do this. It's your choice alone to make. Its more then enough that you've bonded with me, I never even expected that much."

Remi felt his fangs recede and he sat up under Lucille, she was pale and shaky, yet his movements caused him to move inside her and it made her shiver from arousal rather then fear.

"I'm sorry, Remi," she whispered, Remi wrapped his arms around her.

"Why are you sorry? You've just allowed me to experience something I have dreamed about since the day I met you. How can I ever be upset with that?"

Lucille let herself be swept up in his kiss, it was long and soothing and passionate at the same time, Remi finally broke from the kiss and laid back against the pillows with a wicked grin, he wiggled his hips so that his erection moved inside her, causing her to moan.

"Now, my sweet wife, ride me."

Lucille felt her heart kick pleasurably at being called his wife and she did just as he asked.

* * *

Remi didn't like it, he was allowing it but he didn't like it. Not one stinking bit. But if he tried to lay down the law and tell her that he forbid her to leave, there would be definite repercussions. Plus she'd probably just laugh and walk out anyway. Still Remi could not help feeling that he was neglecting his duties as her mate by not going with her, she needed protection, Lucille might think she was tough but Remi knew better. Besides he didn't want her to have to be tough, he was tough enough for the both of them.

"Okay, I'm all set," Remi looked up and saw Lucille carrying an over night bag down the stairs, it was obviously too heavy for her. He'd told her he'd carry it! Remi got up and took it from her; she took one look at his face and laughed, just as he knew she would.

"I'll be back by tomorrow night," she said, rubbing her thumb over his frown, normally Remi would have taken this as an invitation to nibble and kiss her hand but he wasn't feeling playful right then.

"I would really like to come with you," Remi said hopefully.

"I just don't think I should immediately foist everything on Manuel, he might not be able to take it."

"How old is he?"

"I have no idea," Lucille said distractedly, as she counted off what she may have forgotten.

"Surely he may have considered that you were married or mated?" Remi said, still trying to dissuade her from leaving him behind. Lucille wasn't listening and was re-checking her bag. Remi suddenly had an idea.

"Okay, what if I don't come with you now but I meet you there tomorrow and we travel home together?"

Lucille beamed at him and Remi felt a sudden lightness in his chest at the thought that he'd pleased her - damn, he was a complete sap!

"You'd do that?"

Remi rolled his eyes at her; she really needed to get over this thing of hers where she thought asking him for anything was far too much. "If you'll let me."

Lucille smiled and left her bag so she could step up to him and wrap her arms about his waist, she looked so beautiful to him, she been practically glowing all morning. Especially when he called her "mate" or "wife".

"I love you," she sighed and Remi tried not to let how happy he was to hear that show on his usually grim face.

"You better," he said with mock ferocity, Lucille laughed.

"Or what?" Remi raised his eyebrow and said in his best bedroom voice.

"Or I'll never make love to you again."

Lucille's eyes darkened slightly as they fixed upon his mouth, Remi licked his lips, watching her eyes watch him, she opened her own mouth to say something but Dev chose that moment to appear.

"Sera says the cars ready."

Lucille nodded and let go of Remi, who moved to get her bag for her, he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder without so much as a grunt when her shoulder still had strap burn from carrying it down the stairs. He was so strong and unshakable; she could barely reconcile the bear she had realised from captivity to this self-assured man in front of her. Now that she had to go Lucille found she didn't want to go alone, but she couldn't ask him to go now. She'd all but cried and threw a tantrum to get him to stay behind; it seemed capricious and stupid to suddenly ask him to come now. Still it wasn't all bad; he would be meeting her tomorrow. Perhaps that was a good thing, so that Manuel knew that he wasn't going to be stuck entirely with a human that didn't understand him. Remi held out his hand and Lucille came forward eagerly to take it, he led her down the stairs and through the house to the back door where a Mercedes was parked. Remi let go of her hand to go and put the bag in the trunk while Lucille gaped at the beautiful car, Sera came to stand beside her.

"Whose car is that?" Lucille asked she'd never been in anything so beautiful or pricey.

"Why? Would you prefer the Range Rover?"

Lucille burst out laughing at the absurdity of the question and shook her head. "No, I was just wondering who would trust me with his or hers pride and joy? That must have cost lots of moolah."

Sera smiled in that kind way she had, "its Remi's car and I don't think he really minds."

Lucille saw that Remi had deposited her bag and was now checking under the hood, while instructing Dev to check the seat belts and air bags.

"He will if I put a huge scratch down the side," Lucille said, a little anxious about driving something so expensive, she looked back at Sera who was staring at her in an odd way. Lucille wiped at her cheek thinking she'd left her breakfast there.

"What?"

Sera shook her head, "I like that about you?"

"What?" Lucille asked self-consciously.

"That you've yet to realise that you are the most precious thing in his world. You are his only pride and joy. That's how we know you're good for him. You'll never take him for granted."

Lucille felt herself blush, "oh."

"That's why we're so grateful to you," Sera continued after a pause of staring at Remi, "me and Dev and Colt. We didn't realise what it would mean to lose him. Then we did -" Sera took a shaky breath, "and then he came back and he was so changed. Dev was going out of his mind with worry about his brother, Colt too. But we have him back, because of you."

Before Lucille could do anything Sera had wrapped her arms around Lucille's shoulders and gave her a warm, tight hug, "thank you," she whispered.

When she pulled back Lucille worried her lip, wondering whether or not to keep her mouth shut, she looked at Remi. He'd killed her father because the guy had hurt her, Lucille telling them a few home truths didn't compare - that could be her argument if he ever got pissed that she said anything.

"When Remi went away," Lucille asked carefully, "did you ever go and look for him?"

"No," Sera said, she wouldn't Lucille's eyes, "did he tell you where he went?"

"Yes," Lucille admitted, seeing no reason to hide how close they actually were, before she could stop herself she blurted out. "You should have looked."

Sera's eyes shot to Lucille's who cast a look over to the men to make sure they were still busy, then she looked back at Sera who was looking a little shocked and slightly wary.

"You should have gone looking for him," she repeated, "you failed him."

Not wanting to be questioned anymore Lucille walked briskly over to Remi and pinched his butt while Dev wasn't looking. Sera, however watched from a distance. Not just Lucille's words, but her tone and expression had chilled Sera to the bone, they shed no real light on the mystery that was Remi, still she wanted to speak to Dev right away.

"Call me when you get there, okay?" Remi said, helping her into the car, he held the door open and looked down at her in the seat. "I'll call you tonight and I'll be there for tomorrow."

"Okay," Lucille tried to close the door but Remi held on to it.

"Keep your phone on."

"Okay."

"And keep this on," Remi reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out something dainty and sparkling, Lucille felt her heart absolutely melt. "I don't want to come down there and find some guy hitting on you and have to kill him."

He crouched down so he was level with her in the car and took her left hand, slipping the white gold ruby wedding ring on her fourth finger. Lucille couldn't help her but feel a womanly fluttering in her chest when she saw it there; she was thrilled by Remi's possessiveness. Clearing her throat of the sudden lump there Lucille leant forward and laid her lips firmly on her mate's.

"I take it that you like it," he said drolly and Lucille laughed, she stroked his face.

"I like you more," she kissed him again; really not wanting to leave at all now, Remi could feel in her kiss so he pulled back.

"You better go before I decide to toss you over my shoulder and take you back upstairs."

"Would you?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

Lucille laughed and pulled back, "okay, I'm leaving now. Be good."

"I always am."

Still he had yet to let go of her hand, his eyes still fixed on her precious face, she made no move to start the car and he didn't want her too. He knew what Colt must be thinking and he didn't care. He didn't even care anymore whether it was normal to be this obsessive over one's mate, to love them this much, all Remi knew was that he did and that was all he cared about.

"Wherever you go, you take my heart with you. Please be careful with it."

Lucille's own heart trembled at his words and she nodded, this time he pulled away and shut the door, Lucille quickly secured her safety belt and started the ignition, she'd better do it now or she'd beg Remi to come with her. For some reason she didn't want to leave him on his own with his family, as far as she was concerned he needed someone on his side, and they were all too busy with their own lives or looking down on him to notice this. Taking a deep breath, Lucille pulled away from the curb and drove away, looking back once in her mirror to see Remi standing along on the pavement.


	16. Chapter 16

**NOTE: People, I realise that some of you don't get this fanfic because as we all now know, since SK has oh so kindly sprung it on me, that Remi is Arcadian. Well, for those of you who haven't read this Fic from the very first time it was posted, you won't know that it was posted well before Bad Moon Rising came out. And by that time I was half way through this story and didn't want to change where I was going with it. Having said that, you all know I like to keep to the general basic facts and plots that SK uses in her books, so every fanfic after this one will go along with the whole 'Remi and his family are Arcadian' theme. Thanks for reading and reviewing people!**

Dev came up behind Sera and swept his arm around her waist, they both watched in silence as Remi made his way sombrely back inside. Dev leaned his jaw against Sera's hair and inhaled her scent, sympathising with his brother.

"Poor guy," Sera murmured absently, her eyes fixed on the door he'd just disappeared through, Lucille's words niggling at her mind.

"Hmm, he looks pretty wrecked. Damn, I never thought I'd see the day when Remi was strung out by a girl."

"No?"

"Nope. Girls were usually just a blow and go for him - sorry, sweetie," Dev said hastily with a grimace, not liking to be crude around his mate, Sera just ignored it. "But yeah, even when we were young he never formed any real attachments to any female; the only females he ever let close to him were Aimee and Mama. And after, well, you know -"

Sera felt her stomach clench, that was how Dev always referred to Remi's disappearance, evasive and cautious, as if it were a bad family secret.

"There was a time after he came back that I thought that we'd have to have him up in front of the Omegrion on trial as a slayer. I thank the fates daily that she came around when she did."

Sera nodded in agreement, "Lucille Renn sure saved his butt alright."

She hesitated but decided to tell Dev about her fears; as far as she was concerned mates did not keep things from each other.

"Dev, Lucille said something just now … It bothered me."

Dev quirked a sexy eyebrow, looking serious for once. Anything that bothered his mate was one of the things that caused the happy go lucky bear to be deadpan and stern, when it came to Sera's discomfort, Dev had no sense of humour.

"What?"

"She knows where he went - Remi," Sera added quickly when Dev looked nonplussed, she watched her mate's eyes darken, she debated on whether to go any further knowing what she was about to say would hurt her mate. "Lucille asked me if we looked for him. I said no … she said we should have. She said we failed him."

Dev's face tautened that and a sudden expression behind his eyes was the only indication that he'd taken in what she said.

"Did she tell you where he went?"

"No."

"Okay," Dev murmured distractedly as he looked back to the door Remi had gone through, "okay, baby. Thanks for letting me know."

He swept his arm around Sera once more and walked her to the door, he was far too quiet and his face so stern. Sera knew his mind was racing, she also knew he needed time to think things over, so she allowed the silence to stem between them as she worried her lip and hoped for the best.

* * *

Remi didn't feel much like sleeping or eating, he didn't want to be alone nor did he want company, he couldn't stand the silence but crowds were making him irritable. He wondered into the kitchen of the house and began to poke about in the cupboards, pulling things out he thought looked good, then putting them back when he knew he had no appetite.

"So she has left, has she?"

Remi looked over his shoulder and saw his mother leaning against the frame of the door, her arms were folded over her chest and her beautiful face was cold.

"Just for the night," Remi answered curtly before turning back to the cupboard, he heard her move behind him and felt his hackles rise.

"And she goes off in your best car to bring some Arcadian orphan back which she expects us to care for?"

"She doesn't expect anyone to do anything," Remi barked, he saw her eyes flash and knew his own were turning wild. "We will take care of him ourselves."

Nicolette pursed her lips with a disdainful look, "well, she has to come back, who else has she to turn to now she's been lumbered with a child. Expecting you to look after a child that is not your own."

"It isn't 'her own' either!" He felt his fangs elongate

"Remi, I don't want to argue with you," Nicolette snapped, her face pale, knowing she was pushing him towards the edge.

"Oh, really? Since when has that ever stopped you? I am sick of hearing you, day after day, week after every damn week criticise everything I do. I didn't hear you giving Dev this kind of grief when Sera brought an entire tribe with her into this family."

"Remi, I only want what's best for you! Can't you see that?"

"And why does what you think is best always have to be right for me? You don't care for my personal happiness. It will only ever be about you!"

Remi watched Nicolette struggle for an answer, Remi growled ferociously and stalked out of the room. He stalked through the family room where Zar and Serre were gathered with their mates and cubs, along with Etienne and Cherif, they looked up at his approach and opened their mouths perhaps to say hi but Remi refused to see them. He was mindful of the cubs as he moved through the room but his temper was so near boiling point the felt no one was safe, not even half an hour away from Lucille he felt like his old self. He needed her back now.

Remi was almost to the door that would take him out into the hallway and out a door that would get him to the back stairs that would take him the fastest route to the landing where his room was. Dev appeared in the doorway so suddenly that Remi barely caught himself in time before he hit out; Dev raised an eyebrow as if he knew he had just escaped having his face turned to mince meat.

"Get out of the way, Dev," Remi ordered in a shaky voice, an indication of how hard he was trying to control his temper.

"Remi, we need to talk," Dev said carefully, Serre and Zar got to their feet; Zar gestured for their mates to gather their young and leave the room, while Serre narrowed his eyes on Remi and Dev.

"What's going -" Serre began but Remi gave a vicious slash of his hand and a growl welled in his throat.

"Enough!" he barked over his shoulder, and then turned his swirling eyes on to his twin, "get out of my way."

"We need to talk!"

"I have nothing to say to you!" Remi shouted, "any of you!"

Remi tried to barge past Dev and expected his easy-going brother to give way but he didn't, instead Remi felt himself get caught around the waist and tackled back into the room. Zar and Serre responded on instinct and locked their arms around each of his and around his throat, the feeling of being restrained by the neck flashed him back to a sordid, dingy cell and Remi went berserk. Thrashing his arms and kicking out, through the red haze he saw Dev's shocked face, behind him his mother's terrified one. Dev hadn't expected him to react like this and they couldn't understand why he was, they would never understand. They would never understand because they never came for him, they never came for him because they didn't give a shit about him! Remi threw back his head and roared with agony and rage; he turned his gaze on Dev.

"Let! Me! GO!"

Dev backed away and gave a nod to the two behind him, they let go and backed away faster then lightening, everyone in the room giving him a wide berth.

"Is it the trelosa?" Nicolette asked tearfully, being physically restrained by her mate so she would not run to her son.

"He's not insane," snarled Colt, who had also come to join the family chaos. Remi locked eyes with him and Colt, who rarely let his Sentinel marking show, now let the light green etchings swirl over the right side of his face and neck.

"You think you're going to take me down, Arcadian?" Remi demanded, his human face began contorting in rage until he didn't look as handsome anymore, he was allowing the beast in him free reign. His eyes were glowing and his fangs were long, he looked merciless and vicious but Colt didn't try to come forward, nor did he back away. "Here I am!"

"That is a hell of a thing for you to say to me," Colt said calmly, his tone laced with a quiet sense of shock and disgust. "I thought you knew me better then that."

"So did I, guess we're both wrong!"

Even though Remi's answer was defiant, Colt had succeeded in punching through the killing rage that consumed him. Remi's face melted back to the handsome one that was identical to Dev with a nasty snarl in place, his eyes were oddly bright though and very bloodshot.

"Remi, what's happened to you?" Aubert Peltier asked, his voice betraying his fear for his son's mental state. Remi didn't answer, all he could think of was getting out of Sanctuary. He didn't care what Lucille said he had to find her and be with her now, she was his anchor. Without her even he feared for his sanity, besides she would understand when he told her the truth, she always took his side.

"Remi talk to us!" It was Sera's voice, pleading.

"What happened to you when you went away, Remi?" That was Zar, the asshole suddenly decides to open his mouth and still nothing of worth comes out.

"Did something happen to you? Is that why you've changed?" That was Dev again; bastard never could leave well enough alone.

"Remi, tell us!"

"Remi, talk to us!"

"Remi, how did you get that scar?"

"Remi please!"

"SHUT UP!" Remi screamed with his hands covering his sensitive ears, "just shut the fuck up and get away from me!"

He brought his hands away and looked at them all from under low, thundery brows, their faces were white, and his mother's eyes were red with tears. But they all backed away, all but Dev and Colt and Nicolette who came forward.

"Remi, please man, just -"

"Dev, if you value your worthless fucking life, stay away from me," he bit out spitefully, Dev drew up short, Remi had always been a mean, sarcastic fucker but he'd never said anything like that to his twin. "You think I actually want you near me? That I want to tell you jack shit about my life?"

"Remi, my brother -" Dev's voice sounded uneven and scared.

"You're no brother of mine!" Remi spat out and immediately felt dead inside, he hadn't meant to go this far, but he'd crossed that line and pushed hard enough. It had Dev backing away swiftly, shock and disgust written plainly in his eyes. The feelings echoed in the eyes of the others, Remi held his back stiff and his head high, prepared to walk out of Sanctuary, the only home he'd ever known and never come back. He had money and he had Lucille, he'd get along.

"Go ahead run then!" Colt spat out, Remi ignored him, "like we want you here anyway. You're a worthless sack of shit, Remi!"

"Colt!" That was Kyle's voice and Aimee's shocked gasp.

"No, he needs to hear the truth about how much we are all hoping he walks away and never comes back!"

Remi growled and bit at Colt's hand as Colt punched his shoulder, he'd never seen that kind of expression on the Arcadian's face before.

"All you've ever been is trouble for us. All you're good for is being the punch line of every joke, and breaking a few heads now and then. You're a thug!"

Remi heard ringing in his eyes but was determined to get to the door and do as Colt said: never come back, Colt let out a scathing laugh.

"Oh, now this is priceless. Big bad Remi Peltier has decided to be the bigger man for once and walk away."

He punched at Remi's back hard, if he'd been a human man the blow would have taken him down and winded him badly. The ringing got louder, his vision began to waver.

"Are you so much of a coward that you'll …"

What Colt was about to say never actually left his mouth, for on the word 'coward' Remi swung around so fast that he was a blur and run Colt in to the wall. He repeatedly smashed the Arcadian against it, amidst frantic cries from his family behind him Remi heard Colt shout out for them to back off. Remi slung Colt to the floor and straddled him while raining blow after blow into his face, the blood was dark and the crunch of bone was heard.

"Remi, you're killing him!" Aimee screamed, Remi pulled back and stared down at Colt's face, he didn't actually look like himself anymore, he was just a bloody pulp, yet Remi could not feel shame for his deeds. In fact he wanted to keep going until he was driving the bastard' body through the floor boards into the ground, but what stopped him was the thought of Lucille's face if she could see him now and the animal he was.

"You want to talk about coward," Remi said shakily, letting go of Colt's shirt so he could stand, he moved away so that he was watching them all. He could see them as if looking at them through a goldfish bowl, Colt managed to raise himself on one elbow and stare up at Remi through a partially opened eye.

"Coward am I?" Remi asked manically, making sure he caught the eye of everyone of them; he caught hold of the neck of his shirt and ripped. It came away as if it were made of cotton candy and exposed his scarred flesh. "I was locked for over a year … In a cell …With a leash around my neck."

His voice was hoarse and his throat felt sore from trying to force the lump away, but there was nothing that he could do about his eyes that leaked continuous streams; splashing droplets of water across his mother's floor.

"I had a _metriazo _collar strapped around my throat and I was beaten … day after day. Then I was starved - day after day. Just so I would do anything for food or a chance to rest. I was degraded and humiliated every hour of - every single day. Sitting in my own filth, praying to Artemis that someone would slip poison in my food or a knife in my side! They dragged me from my cell and beat me if I didn't do what they wanted, or how they wanted it! They trained me for a fucking _circus bear_!"

Remi's yell pierced the sudden silence of the room, making them all jump, his tears kept coming even though he pressed the balls of his palms so hard against his eyes he saw colours.

"You didn't even care to look," Remi bit out contemptuously, his mouth twisted with anger, Nicolette had her hand over her heart, her face looked ravished with anguish. "They beat me until I couldn't stand. My wounds were infected and blood matted my fur. And all the while I thought my family would some day find me."

Dev was the colour of stale porridge, none of them could meet his eye, and those that did only did so out of shock.

"I had to wait for a human to rescue me. My human mate had to rescue me, because no one else would."

Aubert broke away from his trembling mate and made for his son who immediately moved out of reach, "don't want you to touch me," Remi grumbled as he wiped furiously at his face, reminding Nicolette of a little boy.

Colt raised himself unsteadily to his feet and weaved over to where Remi stood, Aubert stood close in case Colt was about to get the shit kicked out of him again. But everyone gasped when he cupped Remi's head in his hands, and gave him a shake.

"I knew something had happened. I knew it."

Remi stared at Colt's mashed up face and knew immediately that the human had been gaming him; he'd forced him to get so angry that he'd broke and confessed. Remi pulled himself out of Colt's grasp and without another word walked out of the room, leaving the rest of them to talk and sift through their guilt together.

* * *

Remi hadn't expected to sleep; he'd gone to his room with the express intention of calming himself down enough to flash out of there. But as the night wore on and in the solitude of the complete darkness, Remi broke down and wept with shame. It was the one secret he had been prepared to die to keep his family from knowing and yet he'd told them, just stood in the middle of the room and shouted it out for everyone to hear. Remi did not no how he would be able to face them after this, he needed to leave, he needed to just leave, to grab Lucille and their ward and run as far away as it was possible to get from New Orleans. As much as Remi longed for that peace, apart of him refused to go. He loved his home and deep down he loved his family, he was angry at them for sure and maybe he would never forgive them this trespass against him but he still loved them. Even if they believed, as his mother so eloquently put it, that he didn't know what love was. Remi moaned into his palms, how could he live without experiencing another New Orleans sunset over the Mississippi or moonrise over the Bayou? Besides he had his mate to think about now, he could not just simply uproot her and make her leave the only place she'd ever lived because he could not live down his shame. Perhaps it would have been better for both of them if he'd left her alone, let her get on with her life without him and the hassle he brought to her …

With these unsettling thoughts in his brain Remi fell into a sleep so deep that he even forgot to wake up and call Lucille. If someone, his brothers or parents had knocked on his door during the night he never knew about it, and to be perfectly honest Remi didn't care if he ever spoke to them again with the way he was feeling. He was glad he was too deep in slumber to have heard their stuttering half assed apologies choked through the door when it couldn't help or erase what had happened.

The sun floated into the sky and brought forth a cloud free morning, Remi put his paw over his eyes and rumbled a noise in his throat. As much as he wished to pretend differently, last night had happened and now he had to face his family even if it was for only a few brief minutes. Remi got up and showered, keeping his mind as blank as he could get it, he dressed like an automaton all in kick ass black. He slotted one knife in the small of his back and shrugged on his leather jacket, his hair hung loose about his face, the dark blond curls still damp from the shower. To add another complex layer to the air of a rough rebel bad boy he exuded, Remi slipped a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes and grabbed his phone. He didn't pause by any of the bedroom doors he passed on his way down; he didn't stall by the kitchen or linger by the living room. Remi knew he could have flashed himself to Lucille from his room but he refused to be a coward, he wanted everyone to know and see that he was still number one bad ass and if they doubted that he was ready and willing anytime. He would not cower in his room like a frightened cub; he would not give them the satisfaction or the opportunity to deny their guilt simply because he was not around. He wanted his thumping footsteps as he jogged casually down the stairs, to beat into their minds and let them all know that he would never be beaten. Not by some sick Arcadians or by his families disapproval of him.

Remi moved swiftly through the door connecting to the bar, he didn't look around to see who was working but moved swiftly to the end of the bar to make his way towards the door.

"Remi?"

Remi paused and looked over his shoulder, he quirked a brow above his dark lenses, "what?"

It was Dev and Colt. Remi answered with an air of indifference and mild impatience, as if all that had passed between himself and his family had not happened, or at least he didn't care about it.

"Where are you going?" Dev asked, his face a picture of dejection and apprehension, Colt's the same. Remi scoffed his derision and carried on moving towards the door, he heard them move behind him.

"Remi, we need to talk -" Colt said urgently, following him around the bar, he and Dev almost knocking each other out the way to get to him.

"Do we?" Remi said carelessly, still heading for the door, he didn't feel the slightest bit sorry that Colt looked as if he had been hiring his face out as a wrecking ball.

"Please, Remi, we need to deal with this," Colt said softly and Dev nodded his agreement, Remi turned and spared them a disdainful stare. If they didn't see it because of his glasses then they felt it because both looked dreadfully ashamed and flushed crimson.

"What exactly is there to deal with, hmm?" Remi's voice had the suggestion of laughter in it, laughter that he didn't feel, but it was there all the same telling his brothers that he thought they were a bunch of jokes.

"Well, we - we want to -" Dev began inarticulately.

"Don't bother," Remi cut over him, anticipating the bullshit, "_why _bother in fact? It doesn't change what happened or how I feel about it. All it will do is make you feel better about the situation. And I don't actually think you deserve that peace of mind, I sure as hell learnt how to live without it, surely you can do the same."

"Remi, this isn't -" Dev began, but Remi barked out a laugh that sounded more like a warning off growl.

"This isn't what? Fair?" Remi suggested in the same light-hearted voice then had an undertone of steel, "life isn't fair. Its one of the lessons I learnt in my cell."

"Remi," Colt said pleadingly, "Remi, I swear, we didn't know."

"No, you didn't." But that for Remi wasn't a good enough excuse. "You know the saddest part?"

A heart beat in which Remi lowered his glasses so he could see them and let them see the sincerity in his eyes before he raised them again. "I would have come for you, either of you … All of you."

Dev and Colt both looked gutted because they knew the truth, Remi for all his faults was as loyal to his loved ones as the day was long. Perhaps it would have been easier for Remi to accept that his family refused to come for him because they hated him, or were afraid. But the real reason was neglect, they didn't care enough, they didn't notice and they just assumed he'd gotten himself into a scrape, why should they bother to get him out of it?

Remi turned his back and was about to walk towards the door when it came open and in walked a group of Arcadian bears, Remi immediately snarled and his back went up on instinct. The Arcadians sneered at him and they scanned the place with their eyes and powers.

"We're looking for a human," the one at the front announced condescendingly, "she has one of our young held hostage here."

Colt and Dev stepped out from behind the bar and stood beside Remi, eyeing the Arcadians with distrust. When the Arcadian's saw that they were getting no joy from the three men they stepped further into the bar and fanned out, looking this way and that, sniffing and scanning. The one that had spoken turned and looked at them again.

"Tell the human woman that the son of Dimitri Barbossa is our property, he is of our clan, she has no right to him!"

Remi reacted like a bull being shown a red flag and stepped forward with all the intentions of killing the Arcadian, but Dev threw his arm out and halted him, it was Colt, however, who spoke.

"We have no human woman seeking Sanctuary here; we have no knowledge of a woman going by that name being in this building. You've come to the wrong place."

"Oh, we have, have we?" The Arcadian sneered and advanced a threatening step; Colt smiled coldly and allowed his sentinel markings to flower on to his face and down his neck.

"Yes, you have," he replied in a deadly voice, one which told Remi that had Colt not meant for Remi to beat him to a pulp, Remi himself would be sporting some choice wounds today if Colt had not been so passive. There was something hidden and very menacing about the sentinel, though they did say that a hidden sentinel was one of the most dangerous things. The Arcadians left, filing out of the place quickly and quietly, the cocky speaker turned to glare at them.

"We'll be back."

"Yeah yeah, you and your little dog too," Dev scoffed and he turned to look at Remi and Colt, Remi felt his heart rate picking up speed and he checked his phone for the first time all morning. His body froze; there were eight missed calls from her phone, without a word he flashed out of there and to the hotel where Lucille was staying. Rather then ask at the reception desk for her room number, Remi followed her scent and found her door in minutes. He slammed his fist against the door several times and got no answer, he used his powers to unlock it, the whole while his heart threatening to burst from his chest. He walked cautiously into the room and looked around; even though he could sense it he still said her name just to make sure.

"Lucille?"

She wasn't in the room.


	17. Chapter 17

Lucille walked behind the social worker and felt like she was a kid again, it had been a long time since she'd been in an orphanage and none of the ones she was in were as nice and homely looking as this. Still there was just something cold about them that made Lucille shiver, she looked into doorways as she went and saw herself reflected back in the eyes of the boys and girls there. Lucille paused outside the open doorway and peered in at a young girl, she looked no older then eleven and was staring wistfully out the window. Lucille could bet that the child had only just been brought to the orphanage, and she desperately wanted to go to her and tell her she knew the feeling of being so lost and scared. She wanted to tell her to be brave and that no matter how dark it might seem the world wasn't entirely devoid of hope.

"Miss Renn?"

Lucille blinked and looked back at the lady; the woman smiled and gestured towards the room at the end of the hall with the closed door. Lucille smiled and hurried to catch up with her, the woman gave her an understanding look.

"It's hard seeing children like this, isn't it?" Lucille nodded but said nothing. "Sometimes it just breaks my heart to see them," the woman brightened as she smiled at Lucille.

"This way Miss Renn, this is the butterfly room."

"Peltier," Lucille corrected with a beaming smile and the woman looked at her puzzled, Lucille gave a shy type of shrug, "I've recently been married."

"Oh, congratulations, Mrs Peltier."

Lucille felt a rush of excitement and being called by her married, or more precisely, mated name, until she stopped at the doorway which read in bright letters: Butterfly Room.

"They didn't have one of these when I was here," Lucille muttered to herself, the woman obviously heard and turned to look at her with surprise.

"You were in care?" she asked and Lucille nodded, the woman tried furtively to look Lucille up and down, Lucille felt very offended.

"Are you so surprised that I didn't turn out to be a head case?" Lucille asked icily, the woman looked shocked but could not stop her face flushing with shame; she opened the door for Lucille without a word and shut it immediately after Lucille had stepped inside. It was a large but cluttered office area with a plump woman sitting a desk.

The woman, one with a much friendlier face then the lady that Lucille had just left, approached her, "may I help you?"

"Yes," Lucille cleared her throat, feeling nervous, "I'm here to get my nephew."

"Oh, it's so nice when they get to go home, unfortunately many of them don't have loving families to go to," the woman said casting sad eyes about the place as if she could see all the poor little mites that were sentenced to living the rest of their childhood here.

"Yes, I know," Lucille responded quietly.

"Can I see some identification please?"

Lucille dug out the folder of papers, as a lawyer she knew pretty much what she needed and she had already shown them to the social workers and other officials. The woman looked over them carefully and her face lit up.

"Your little Manuel's auntie? Oh, how wonderful! Truly splendid!"

He lady gave Lucille back her things and beckoned her through another door into, from what Lucille could see a playroom.

As Lucille stepped inside she froze, there were lines of cribs, cribs for babies. Not just any babies, little babies! Lucille didn't want to start hyperventilating in front of the woman but for some reason it had not entered her head that Manuel would be a small baby, she thought he'd be at least four! The woman tugged her over to a crib where the tiniest little blue bundle was wrapped up, tufts of wispy black hair poked out of the top of the blanket reminding Lucille of a black-haired Yoda. Before she could stop herself Lucille leant down and made as if to touch the baby's head but stopped and looked at the kindly woman for permission, the woman beamed at her.

"Go on," she encouraged and Lucille leant into the crib and picked up the bundle, it felt weightier then she had expected for the baby looked as if weighed no more then a feather. Lucille breathed deeply taking into her lungs the baby lotion that was used on him, she found herself humming simple songs to him barely audible to the ear, she looked up at the nurse.

"How old is he?" Lucille asked quietly.

"Five weeks," she whispered back, obviously delighted by the love she saw in Lucille's eyes, Lucille nodded and suddenly wanted Remi to be with her so badly she felt almost like crying. She manfully sucked back the tears but the kind, loving nurse saw her eyes were bright, Lucille smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I'm normally a very controlled person," Lucille said with a grimace, knowing that wasn't technically the truth but the woman didn't need to know she was mostly a snivelling wreck.

"Oh pish!" the woman chastised sweetly, "I cry over them all the time. I have no children of my own and when I'm around these little angels I find my maternal instinct right there."

She thumped herself hard on her heart, "and I just feel like bawling for what most of the darlings have to go through. That's probably what you're feeling right now too."

Lucille nodded her ascent without breaking her eyes from Manuel's face, which was beautiful to her even if it was squashed and a little red.

"You married," the woman asked and Lucille nodded, unable to keep the delighted smile from gracing her face, the woman looked pleased. "That's a good thing. Boy's always need a man around house, that's what I think. Is your husband not here with you?"

The woman looked to the door hopefully, "no, not at the moment," Lucille answered quietly, "but he's meeting me later on today. He wanted to come but I told him I preferred to pick Manuel up myself."

"That's nice."

* * *

Lucille leant into the back seat and unclipped and unbelted the baby carrier, so many times during the ride she had leant back to check if he was okay. He mostly slept which was a good thing since Lucille really wanted to get him home before any major crying jags happened. In the presence of the kind nurse Lucille had fed and changed him before she left and the nurse gave her all his papers and clothing which had been packed in preparation for Lucille's coming. Lucille had been anxious at first, she'd never changed or fed a baby before, though many times she had dreamed of doing it for the baby she would never have. But as soon as he was settled in her arms it felt so natural and right to do this for Manuel, who was blood of her blood.

Lucille walked carefully up to the back door that would let her straight into the Peltier house, so she would not have to go to the bar. She was really worried, Remi had said he would phone her last night and he hadn't which as unusual for him. The guy had all but begged her to let him accompany her and yet he hadn't turned up, he hadn't answered her calls; it was as if he'd disappeared. For a few brief moments paranoia had kicked in, she was ashamed to admit it even to herself that she wondered if Remi had been unable to handle the thought of bringing up a kid and high tailed it out of New Orleans. Lucille had scolded herself severely for her lack of faith, but it wasn't in Remi necessarily, it was in herself, she was forever wondering how she could possibly keep him happy. Lucille was the first to admit she was not anything special or worth sticking around for. But no, Remi would have come for her and now Lucille's heart was beating fast with terror at what might have befallen him in her absence.

Lucille gave the door a sharp tap and hushed the baby when he made a noise as if he were about to cry, the door flew open and Lucille felt a brief flare of happiness and relief but her face soon fell when she recognised that the twin in front of her was Dev and not Remi.

"Lucille, my God!" He exclaimed he's face showing both concern and relief, Lucille's eyes widened with shock and couldn't get a word out while she was hurried inside. She watched from the darkened corridor as Dev stuck his out the door and looked to both ends of the street, he withdrew and turned to her, his handsome face, so like Remi's, was worried.

"Remi isn't with you?" he asked unnecessarily, Lucille cursed and her heart quivered with fear.

"Damn it, I knew something had happened? Where's Remi? Is he okay?"

Dev tried to hustle her out of the corridor, she went reluctantly all the while demanding answers, and Manuel slept on in her arms, oblivious to the distress his aunt was in. Lucille found herself manhandled into the Peltier's cosy sitting room, Dev came in behind her and shut the door, Lucille pinned him with a glare.

"Dev, tell me what's going on right now!"

Before Dev could say anything, and it looked like he was finding it difficult coming up with the words, Mama Bear stood up. She'd been unnoticed by Lucille but her movement Lucille saw in her peripheral vision and barely spared her a glance.

"You're back," Nicolette said quietly, her voice showing surprise, both Lucille and Dev ignored her, suddenly the door opened and Sera walked in. She closed the door and walked swiftly to Lucille, enfolding her in a gentle hug, mindful of the tiny baby in her arms.

"Oh, Lucille, we've been so worried," Sera said sincerely, she pulled back to gaze into Lucille's face, "are you alright?"

"Of course I'm alright, will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" Lucille said irritably.

"Remi's gone to find you," Dev said, his arms crossed, his voice and expression showing he was blatantly agitated.

"Find me? I don't understand, he hasn't called me, he hasn't answered any of my calls and he wasn't there this morning. What's been going on here?"

Dev and Sera exchanged looks of obvious unease, Sera stepped forward saying hesitantly, "Well, when you said … what you said to me yesterday."

Lucille closed her eyes, she could guess what had gone on and all because she'd opened her big mouth.

"We just wanted to know," Sera said quickly, Dev laid his big palm comfortingly on the small of her back and moved her aside so he could step close to Lucille.

"He told us, Lucille, he told us everything," Dev said sombrely, "you were right, we did fail him."

Lucille wasn't listening, "where is Remi now," she couldn't keep the quiver of fear from her voice.

"We don't know. After the showdown with Remi -"

"You better not have hurt him!" Lucille snarled at Dev, forgetting that should he want to Dev could crush her so small he could use her as a tooth pick.

"No, we … we didn't. Lucille, we just needed to know and Colt and he had a little bit of a scuffle, nothing big. He's head probably wasn't in the right place last night to call you but the next morning he got up to come see you. Maybe a little later then he planned and some Arcadians came in looking for you."

"For me?" Lucille was stunned, why was it all these were-hunters knew her?

"Yeah, you and the boy."

Dev inclined his head to the sleeping Manuel and Lucille instinctively pulled him closer to her chest, "what did they want?" she asked in a small voice.

"We don't know, but it seems as if they think they have a right to the child."

Lucille moaned quietly, she knew her life was too good to be true; something was always waiting to come along and fuck it up!

"Okay," Lucille said in a steadying voice, "okay. Sera will you look after Manuel for me?"

"Err -"

"Thanks," Lucille didn't wait for an answer, "I'll just get him settled for you …"

"And just where the hell are you going?" Dev demanded, his hands on his hips, Lucille didn't even spare him a look.

"After Remi."

"Oh no you are not!" He said firmly, following her to the door, he stopped her before she go there, "you're not going anywhere. You are staying here and I and Colt and … and Quinn and Cherif will go for him. You will stay here and be safe and … and safe …" Dev ended his speech lamely and Lucille made a dismissive noise before trying to get past him again.

"Dev! Let - me - past!"

Lucille couldn't struggle as she normally would with the baby in her arms, she threw an aggravated look at Sera who dithered beside the door, she gave Lucille a commiserating look.

"Enough!"

Everybody became still and looked around at Nicolette, who was on her feet, her face pale and strained. She was looking straight at Lucille and Lucille stared defiantly back at her.

"You will stay right here," Nicolette said in a calm, authoritative voice, Lucille glared at her. "You will stay here and my sons will go and find their brother."

"Oh yeah because they just did a bang up job of being there when he needed them before!" Lucille snarled out, Lucille saw Dev's face tighten with pain and blushed; she'd never been deliberately callous before.

Nicolette's pale, beautiful face was a picture of anguish and her lip quivered when she spoke, "Do you know what my son said to me before he left?"

Lucille stared at her, Nicolette's voice had never sounded so weak and shaky. "He told me … t-that I did not care about his personal happiness. But I do."

Nicolette looked at Lucille seriously; her watery eyes meeting Lucille's pain filled ones. "But I do care, very much. And you do not know what it does to me, after centuries of keeping my family alive when mad Sentinels chased us to the ends of the earth, you cannot know what it does to know that one of my sons almost died because of my negligence."

Nicolette's voice broke and tears leaked from her eyes, eyes that Remi had inherited, Lucille felt her heart unwillingly soften.

"Now I know I have failed him, but I refused to do so again. You are the most precious thing in Remi's life and I will not let a thing happen to you. So you will stay here, waiting for him to come home. You will be there at the door to welcome him and you will raise …"

Nicolette looked down at Manuel, who was - incredibly - still sleeping through the turbulent emotions and chaos, she reached a shaky hand and cupped the back of his head ever so gently, Nicolette smiled to herself when Manuel yawned.

"You will raise a son together."

Lucille did not know what to say but she felt that she should make some peace for Remi's sake, so she stepped forward and gave Nicolette a grudging smile.

"I've never taken care of a baby before," Nicolette's eyes filled with hope, "I'll need lots of help …"

Nicolette choked out a sob and came forward to enfold a shocked Lucille into her arms, pulling back so she could coo at the baby. Dev exchanged a look of shocked disbelief with Sera before kissing her goodbye and leaving to rally the cavalry, Nicolette looked Lucille sombrely in the eyes.

"I love my son, Lucille. I perhaps do not show it in the right way, but all I ever do; I do because I never want to see him hurt. You must believe that."

Lucille paused, studying Nicolette's face, "as strange as it may seem, Nicolette, I do believe that. I actually, really do."

* * *

Remi walked at a slower pace back down towards the reception so he could pick out the strongest lead on Lucille's scent, he traced it towards a big, turn of the century building that had a sign which read: Heritage Children's Home. Hopefully she would be there, Remi thought; he took out his phone again and flipped it open about to dial Lucille's number. It suddenly went off in his hand showing Dev's number, Remi groaned but he answered it against his inner judgement just in case they had heard from Lucille.

"Yeah?"

"Remi, where are you?" Dev said sharply, Remi rolled his eyes.

"Looking for Lucille, she wasn't at her -"

"Lucille's here," Dev said and Remi felt his heart literally punch at his rib cage, relief washed over him in waves.

"Thank God," Remi breathed, all at once feeling his legs go weak. He hadn't wanted to admit it but he had been extremely frightened for her. "Is she with you? I need to talk to her."

"Hold on -"

Remi tapped his foot while he waited, he frowned when a psychic tremor went through him, he turned in time to dodge the Arcadian wielding a knife and land a jaw breaking blow on him. But unfortunately stumbled into the line of a sniper, Remi saw the red dot that marked his chest and tried to run but the dart flew through the air at a speed that not even were-hunters could beat. Remi realised the attacker with the knife had been a diversion; he pulled the dart from his chest as casually as possible even though he could feel the drug taking affect. Not sure how he would be able to get himself out of his situation he simply raised his phone to his ear and spoke to anyone who may have been on the other end, "I've been hit. Arcadians. I might be home late …"

He slurred his last words deliriously refusing to ask for help, the phone dropped from his hand and he fell back to the hard ground transforming into his bear form and he then passed out.

* * *

Lucille was almost hysterical as she clutched the phone to her ear, Dev demanded it back from her but when he put it to his ear all he could make out was static and perhaps a rumbling of traffic.

"What happened?" Dev demanded.

"I don't know! When I put the phone to my ear I heard Remi swear then it sounded like he scuffled with someone. Then I heard him … I heard him gasp and h-he s-said that he'd been hit. He said the word Arcadians and he s-said that he might be home late."

Tears leaked from her eyes as she stared at Dev, Dev grabbed her hand firmly and turned it over so he could see her mating mark, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"This will only leave you in the death of your mate," Dev said holding it up for her to see, Lucille looked and it and almost broke down. He was alive! But by how much?

"We have to go to him?" Lucille said her voice firm with authority even through her tears. "Can you find him? He needs help!"

"Of course we're going after him," Dev almost sneered at her, Lucille let it go, knowing it was his fear for his brother which caused him to be sharp with her. "Don't leave the house."

Lucille watched him stalk off and raced after him, "what do you mean, 'don't leave the house'?" she demanded in his ear as he flew down the stairs with her one step behind him. "I'm going to help, Remi!"

"And just how will you do that?" Dev cried, Lucille stopped short.

"I don't know but I'll probably be a lot more help then you will!"

Lucille felt bad for throwing it back in his face but she didn't care, no doubt Sera would kick her ass for hurting Dev but right then all Lucille cared about was her mate.

"You are human, Lucille. You can't go up against a Were and win. If you get hurt, Remi will then never truly forgive us."

Lucille wanted to cry bitter tears of frustration at how little she could do for her mate, she hated that she was human and could not fight for him.

"Bring him back, Dev!" she ordered fiercely, "I don't care how you bring him back, just bring him back to me alive!"

Dev nodded and grasped her arm briefly, "I'm glad he has you," Dev whispered before leaving her alone in the dark hallway.

* * *

Colt, Dev, Quinn, Cherif, Zar, Serre, Griffe, Etienne and Jasyn all appeared in unison on the street where Remi's scent was strongest. Dev spotted the phone immediately on the sidewalk but it was Jasyn, silent and deadly as always, who found the dart. He picked it up and sniffed it, his hawk eyes scanning around him, he handed it to Colt without looking at him, "they used a powerful tranquiliser on him."

Serre looked at the dart also and then sniffed the air, "the scent isn't strong enough."

"Yes it is," Colt and Jasyn said immediately, they looked at each other; Jasyn had a barely concealed contempt for Colt, because he was a sentinel. And Colt just simply didn't like the murderous hawk, but both were excellent in what they were born to do; hunt and kill.

"They've flashed him to another location," Colt explained, "let the psychic waves bring his scent to us and then put your feelers out for him."

All nine were-hunters waited listening and feeling for the psychic waves perceived only by beings like themselves, Colt caught it first followed swiftly by Jasyn who looked incensed that the Arcadian got there before him.

"Has everyone picked up the scent?" Colt said authoritatively, "Serre? Dev? Dev?"

Colt turned and saw Dev standing very still holding Remi's phone so tightly in his hand that Colt thought Dev's mighty grip would shatter the fragile thing. They all watched as Quinn approached his brother and gave him a gentle shake; Dev whipped his head up clearing his throat abruptly.

"Let's get him back," he said fiercely and the others nodded immediately pretending they did not see the dampness under his eyes.

"What the fuck is up with him?" Jasyn murmured to himself, Colt heard and turned to him with a sneer.

"Guilt, slayer," he sniped nastily, "ever heard of it?"

Jasyn gave him a murderously cold stare, "have you?" he retorted and Colt scoffed before flashing him to where Remi's scent was strongest.

* * *

Remi knew the world once more but it was hazy and painful, opening a blurry eye he saw that surrounding him were small lights, not bright enough to light the apparently cavernous environment he'd found himself in. With a little effort Remi was actually able to transform into his human form and sit up.

"He's awake!" someone's voice echoed from the darkness, they stepped forward into the light. A young, very twitchy looking Arcadian, "Darius! He's awake!"

"Rex!" A voice answered sharply, "shut up!"

Remi felt his muscles paralyse and he lifted his head one more time to have a good look at the kid in front of him, who was staring at him with such awe and fear. The boy backed into the shadows where Remi could do nothing but sense his presence.

No, it couldn't be! It had to be a nightmare! This could not be happening again ….

Remi's mind tried to deny it but no, this was the same useless Arcadian youth that had been there last time he was captured. The youth seemed to be utterly transfixed, morbidly so, by Remi, Remi wondered whether the youth recognised him. Remi took a deep breath and clamped down on the urge to curse the youth and rage against the chains binding him to the rock wall behind him, if he wanted to see Lucille again he needed to seriously think of a way out of this.

"Come closer," Remi said his voice hoarse and harsh. He saw the outline of the youth tremble; he saw his head look over his shoulder. "Surely you're not afraid. I'm in chains and you are free. It would be so easy to kill me."

"I'm not afraid of you, animal!" the youth spat out and Remi allowed himself to smirk.

"Then come into the light."

Rex did as he was told and stepped closer so that the light from the flaming torches threw his face into sharp relief.

"Ah, it is you," Remi said with indifference, he saw the boy looked worried.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember me?"

The boy looked even more worried now and Remi let out a soft laugh, staring at him underneath lowered brows, he looked psychotic.

"Don't you remember the bear you thought you had left as a slave for the humans?"

Rex's face drained of blood as he looked on Remi as if he were a ghost, he looked over his shoulder again, then back to Remi.

"How?" He's voice quivered and his upper lip glistened, "you were barely alive."

"Wouldn't you like to know," Remi sneered and looked away from him.

"But you're an animal," Rex whispered, "how can you mate to a human?"

"Divine intervention," Remi muttered with a shrug, though his body had gone on full alert at the mention of his mate, Remi turned and pierced Rex with a gimlet stare.

"Who was Dimitri Barbossa to you?"

"My …" Rex flicked a look over his shoulder, "my cousin. And leader of my clan."

"And why are you so anxious to get the child?" Remi asked quietly, Rex shifted uncomfortably and Remi shrugged. "Surely you don't believe that I will get out of this one? Guards on every entrance, armed with phasers and guns."

"You won't get out!" Rex spat belligerently.

"Then I see no reason for you to be afraid to tell me?"

"I'm not afraid!"

"Oh, I think you are, little cub," Remi sneered mockingly, "I think I scare you to death."

The boy's chin went up, his pride well and truly dented, "Dimitri left all his assets to his son and his son was left in the care of his human aunt. My uncle was going to try and mate with her but we found out she was living in a Limani with the Katagaria."

"So this is all about money?" Remi managed to get out between his clenched teeth, the thought of some scumbag Arcadian's trying to mate with his Lucille was enough to make him to damage to someone. Rex shrugged and turned his back on Remi moving back from him, Remi let himself transform back into his bear form, he turned this way and that trying to get comfortable, all the while testing the slack he had on the chains around his ankles and wrists. Finally Remi sat, resting his head on his paws and watched. And waited.


	18. Chapter 18

Remi watched very closely under his lashes as Rex prowled around the outside of the circle of light, he used his other senses to track him and pinpoint him. He had to wait until the perfect moment, Remi thought.

"Intruders!" A voice shouted suddenly from the entrance of the cave, which Remi estimated was a fair distance from him by the sound of the echoes. "Intruders! They are coming towards us!"

Rex jumped and immediately ran for the door and Remi seized the moment he had been waiting for, he let Rex run close enough to swipe at his ankle with his bear claws. The boy stumbled and went flat to the ground, Remi flashed into human form and seized his ankle, pulling him to him and wrapping the excess chain around the boy's throat. While the boy's hands were busy trying to remove the chain from his windpipe, Remi sought in his pocket and found the phaser he knew was there. He exchanged the chain for his hand and allowed the boy to breathe a little bit.

"Do you know what I would do if I were you?" Remi murmured in the boy's ear, the boy said nothing; he was too terrified to speak. Remi tightened his hand around the boy's throat, "I would do exactly as I say ... If I were in your position! Because being locked up in a cage didn't do much for my sanity. It also made me very anxious to kill."

"Oh shit, oh shit!" Rex began to sob, "Oh shit, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Shut up!" Remi snarled and Rex gulped his apologies back down and sat shaking against Remi's chest.

"Now, give me the keys to my chains," Remi ordered, the boy shook his head, or it may have just been his body shaking with fear.

"I don't have them," he gasped quickly; "I don't have them. I don't have them, I swear!"

"Well, that's terrible news for you, Rex," Remi growled menacingly, "because I'm pointing a phaser at your head and it's on full power, so you will die. Understand that, you will die should I press the right button!"

"Rex!"

Rex and Remi both looked at the entrance where someone's rapid footsteps were echoing, Remi tightened his hand around Rex's throat.

"Be very careful what you choose to do," Remi said and looked down, a dark stain was spreading over the crotch of Rex's trousers. Remi grimaced with disgust and waited for the footsteps to come closer.

"Do you doubt me when I say that I will kill you?" Remi asked, pressing the phaser to Rex's temple, Rex began to cry harder, disgusting Remi further.

"Rex, guard the prisoner!" A man came running into sight, before he could take in the scene before him; Remi turned the phaser on him and shot it. The man was taken off his feet by the force of the blast and smashed into the wall opposite, but Remi didn't hear the crash as Rex began to shriek. His popping eyes fixed on the Arcadian flashing from human to animal in front of him and finally after several, painful seconds the flashing stopped and the human before them lay still.

"Do you doubt me now?" Remi said clenching his hand so tight around Rex's neck he stopped the screaming.

"I don't doubt you! I don't doubt you!" Rex babbled, Remi laughed and let go of his throat, still pointing the phaser at him.

"Stand up!" Remi ordered, Rex shakily complied with his words and stood, eyeing the phaser warily. "Now walk over to your friend and find the keys on him. Remember I can see everything you are doing, so if you try anything, and I mean if you literally twitch the wrong way, I will blast you with this thing!"

Rex stood still, his shoulders hunched; he turned as if on a revolving wheel and began to walk with very deliberate steps over to his fallen comrade, Remi kept his hand steady and his eye fixed.

"Stop where you are!" Remi barked and Rex stopped so suddenly that he almost overbalanced and fell; Remi shot the phaser three inches from him, deliberately missing the Arcadian's hand. Rex seemed so terrified he'd lost his voice and just covered his mouth with his hand.

"You're learning, Rex," Remi said with a mirthless laugh, "you're catching on real quick. Now do exactly what I tell you, exactly as I tell you!"

Rex didn't answer, just flinched a lot when Remi was talking, "Bend down slowly and look for his keys."

Rex obeyed; Remi heard a clinking of metal, "I've found them," come Rex's wavering voice.

"Good, now take them from his belt and hold them into the air. Remember Rex, I am a lot faster then you are!"

Rex did as he said. "Good, now walk slowly backwards toward me. If you turn around I will kill you."

Rex began to walk backwards, "Stop!"

Rex flinched and stopped, he didn't know it but he was mere inches from Remi's boot, "drop the keys!"

The keys hit the floor with a small metallic clatter and all was silent, Remi knew he had to act fast for the other Arcadians would be on their way to find their fallen comrade. Remi sent up a blessing of thanks for the timely arrival of the intruders whoever they may be. He also thanked the gods that Rex was too much of a coward to fight back because Remi just knew that the fallen Arcadian had had to have had a phaser on him, despite what he said Remi wasn't sure how quick he could have been.

"Will you let me live?" Rex asked quivering from head to toe, Remi despised everything about him.

"Do you know what I had to endure in that cesspit you left me in?" Remi growled and Rex trembled harder, until his teeth rattled.

"Please -" was the last word Rex spoke before Remi fired the phaser and the shot caught him in the small of the back and threw him towards the already dead Arcadian. Remi didn't realise how sweaty his palms had been until Rex's body had stopped flashing forms and convulsing and just laid still. Remi quickly unchained himself and picked up the phaser, and for extra protection he picked up the other phaser that was on the dead Arcadian. As a rule Remi hated using these things, it was dishonourable and unfair to his mind but Remi realised that he would use any means, foul or fair, to get back to Lucille. Remi lifted his head and scented the air, there were more Arcadians around whether he could smell them or not, not wishing to die when he'd just been given a chance to get out Remi was about to flash himself from the cave.

"Bring them in here and sit them with the other intruder," a voice coming towards the cave commanded, Remi dithered on the spot knowing he had mere minutes before they came within sight, he growled at his own stupidity and got to work.

* * *

Jasyn passed a look of loathing to Colt as if to say look at your brave fellows and how they treat you. Colt pretended to stumble and knocked into Jasyn, before the Arcadians could rip him back into line he leant up to Jasyn's ear.

"These aren't my kin, slayer," Colt hissed and gave Jasyn a sarcastic kiss on the cheek meant to infuriate him, which it did. Jasyn fought against the chains holding him, and the Arcadians surrounding him and the metriazo collar binding his magic to get at Colt who simply laughed at his fruitless efforts.

"We should let these two fight each other in the pit," one Arcadian said to another, "I bet it would be a worthy fight. Though this slayer looks like a hatchling!"

They laughed uproariously together and Jasyn's hawk eyes promised death as they glinted in the flaming torch light.

"No," another sneered, gripping Colt by his hair, Colt didn't make a sound but his suppressed rage manifested itself in the swirling, faded green markings etching across his face. "I can stand nothing less then a blood traitor. Let another fight the bird, this one I wish to kill myself."

"That's what you get, my friend," an Arcadian with a strong Spanish accent said to Colt, "for consorting with the enemy."

"Your enemy or mine," Colt replied in a monotone voice, his blank eyes staring before him, his mind consumed with his lost brother. For his comment he earned a swift slap about the head that made a growl well in his throat.

"See Mandoza," said the man who slapped Colt to the Spanish one, "this blood traitor runt, would kill the likes of you and me for ridding the Katagaria scourge of the earth. He knows nothing of true loyalty to the blood."

"I think this Sentinel is too proud," continued Mandoza, "he has not been shown the proper Arcadian way. Perhaps we should let him live, try to convert him, what say you Diego?"

Deigo, the one that slapped Colt, spat on the ground. "Let him die with the animals. His mother was probably a pox ridden sow who got herself impregnated by one; he thinks he owes his allegiance to them."

Jasyn watched Colt's jaw tighten at the mention of his mother, who had died before his birth.

"If he is to live like one, let him die like one!" Diego finished abruptly and Colt turned to him, his huge fists clenched in livid rage.

"Better the honour of dying like one of them then the dishonour of living a day like you!" Colt spat defiantly and threw his head forward in a well aimed head butt that broke the Arcadian's nose. The Arcadian doubled over and before he or his friends could make an attack, Colt brought his chained fists down across Diego's back, sending him to his knees. Colt brought his leg up catching the nose again, Diego howled in pain and when Mandoza tried to stupidly take Colt down single handed Colt sank his teeth into the Arcadian's shoulder. Suddenly a jet of light and heat so strong it singed Jasyn's hair zoomed past him and exploded in the rock wall, crumbling it away and leaving a charred, round mark. Jasyn looked up to see Colt being restrained by Dev and an Arcadian aiming a phaser at them.

"Typical," Etienne snarled disgustedly and Jasyn curled his lip in agreement, though he found that he secretly had a large amount of respect for Colt all of a sudden. Still hated the shit out of him though.

"If you do anything like that again," the Arcadian said, his voice quivering with fury, "I will personally shoot each and every one of you with this thing."

"Arcadians," Dev snorted, "no imagination!"

The Arcadian raised the phaser threateningly and Dev held his hands up in mock surrender, letting go of Colt, Serre gave Dev a withering look.

"Now look what you've done!" he hissed to Dev who tried to blame Colt, Colt Jasyn could see wasn't listening but was focusing all his attention on Diego. That healthy respect Jasyn had suddenly gained, secretly heightened to slight admiration, the sentinel wanted revenge and he was out for a blood debt that needed paying. The sole purpose in Colt's life had narrowed down to that one ultimate thing that would, in the sentinel's mind, make the world right again. Jasyn knew the feeling well, he fed on it daily, and like Colt it had yet to be assuaged. Without warning Mandoza doubled over and fell to the floor convulsing wildly, his form shifting from human to bear and back again, Diego cried out and turned on the nameless Arcadian.

"You've killed Mandoza!"

"I didn't touch it!" he protested, "It's pointing at them!"

Suddenly an Arcadian guard behind them dropped and all the Katagaria dropped to the ground out of self-preservation, Colt had to be dragged. Another and another fell until only Diego remained, protected by the fact that he too had the sense to drop to ground, and all became quiet in the dark passage way. Smoke spiralled into the air from the frazzled Arcadian bodies and all left alive which were all the Katagaria, Colt and Diego, tentatively got to their feet. There was a sniffing noise behind them and everyone looked to the end of the passageway where Remi was standing, phaser in each hand.

"Phew!" cried Etienne suddenly, "smells like they just gone rotten!"

"Those bastards were rotten even when they were alive," Remi said quietly, advancing on the crowd, he stopped by Colt who was still murdering the Arcadian in his head. Diego had not moved for fear of bating the bear, so to speak. "You feel like you need a time out?"

Colt didn't answer but his breathing hitched up to a pant and his eyes darkened ominously, Remi could not remember when he had ever seen the sensitive Arcadian in such a state of blood lust.

"He wants him," Jasyn remarked quietly, eyeing Diego with loathing.

Remi looked at the Arcadian before him and he was shaking, Remi handed Dev the key to the chains and they came off, while the rest rubbed their wrists Colt began to growl. He reached up to his neck and with his bare hands broke the metriazo collar from his neck. A collective gasp went around the group, it was one of surprise but also of fear, no one had ever seen Colt like this.

"Run!" Colt voice came out deep and demonic as he barked the order, the Arcadian didn't need telling twice. The Arcadian did so and Colt waited in silence until he'd reached the entrance of the cave and gave chase. The group waited in silence, their breaths loud to their ears, then suddenly a scream rent the air and the sounds of tearing and mauling and growling were heard.

"Now let that be a lesson to y'all," Etienne said knowingly wagging his finger at them, "never insult that boy's mama."

Remi threw the phasers to the ground where they dropped with a thud; he looked up to see Dev staring at him, with Quinn and Cherif.

"Damn, I'm glad to see you boy!" Dev said quietly, Remi gave a casual shrug.

"How's Lucille?" he asked, hoping she wasn't too worried.

"Fine," Dev assured him happily, "hell bent on kicking my ass because I wouldn't let her come to rescue you."

Remi's mouth picked up on one side thinking lovingly of his beautiful mate, "you did the right thing. I never want her near these!" Remi kicked the Arcadians on the floor.

"She will be pissed when she knows you saved us," Dev joked and Remi nodded feeling a little cornered, he needed fresh air and open space and more places to settle his eyes on then the people around him.

"Well, standing around doing male bonding shit may be good for the bear, but the hawk here has a price on his head that could pave the streets of New Orleans in gold, so can we?" Jasyn said belligerently.

"Yeah, he's right," Remi agreed, "thanks for coming anyway." Remi stalked off after the quickly muttered sentiment and Dev followed closely, he didn't need no heart to hearts with them right then, he just needed to see his mate. They emerged into the sunlight and saw Colt washing his hands in a barrel of cold water, the Arcadian was unrecognisable.

"Whoa!" Dev murmured, "looks like a load of tomatoes been thrown at a wall!"

"Hell no, more like someone turned that boy inside out," Serre disagreed casually.

"Oh gross!" Etienne exclaimed, "I hope y'all like eggs, bacon, pancakes and orange juice because my breakfast is coming right back to where it started from!"

That made Dev and Serre cringe, Colt walked over to them looking unperturbed but Remi thought he saw something akin to shame in his deep brown eyes. But he had no time to puzzle over Colt and his mixed up human emotions, he only had one emotion at that moment and it was a soul deep longing to be home.

Jasyn and Colt were the last to flash themselves back to Sanctuary, before they did their eyes met over the blood spattered ground and Jasyn grinned maliciously.

"Guilt, Arcadian?" he sneered and Colt said nothing but gave the hawk an icy smile that would have caused fear in another being but not Jasyn, for he was a natural born killer who only respected its insanity.

* * *

Lucille launched herself into Remi's arms and held on to him so tightly he couldn't pry her away so he could kiss her. When he did he ran his hands over her, making sure she was whole and she did the same to him, her hands flying up and over his arms and shoulders.

"Are you safe?" Remi murmured and Lucille laughed with the delight of having him back with her, she nodded like an idiot, clinging to his hand.

"The boy?" he asked and nodded again with a sigh, "he's sleeping in our room."

Remi closed his eyes, loving how she so easily referred to it as their room, they were one. A family, a unit, unbreakable and whole, Remi almost wanted to laugh at it. Without another word to his family he took her hand about to lead her upstairs when she tugged him back, he gave her a quizzical look, Lucille just smiled and looked behind her at Nicolette and Aubert, they stood there waiting for Remi to notice them. Remi whole body tightened in anticipation for this meeting and his face instinctively went blank and cold, Nicolette came to him first. She looked first to Lucille who gave her an encouraging smile then back to Remi.

"Your mate is now my daughter," she said tearfully, and Remi smiled grudgingly, looking to Lucille more handsome then ever. Nicolette had known that her acceptance and love of Lucille would go along way to building a bridge then all the apologies in the world could have done. Remi allowed himself to be pulled into a hug by his mother who let him go only to be passed to his father.

"I am proud of you, always have been," Aubert said to him and Remi grimaced, his cheeks slashed with red.

"Let's not over do it."

"Ain't that just like Remi," Kyle commented, coming forward, "killing the mood."

To everyone's shock Remi grabbed the young bear and pulled him into a hug, showing a secret love and friendship buried there from both of them. The rest of his brothers came forward then, then Aimee who clung to him a second longer and kissed his cheek, then came Dev.

"My brother," he said holding out his hand, Remi winced at the memory of his earlier denial of him.

"Forgive me," Remi said regrettably, "I was angry."

"You had a right to be," Dev said and when Remi shook his hand Dev pulled him into a hug, "idiot!" Dev muttered in his ear.

"Asswipe!" Remi sneered back, Remi looked across to Colt who raised his fist in a kind of salute, Remi let go of Dev and moved towards him and held out his hand.

"Sorry about the face," Remi murmured, feeling guilty that Colt looked black and blue, Colt shrugged.

"Aimee gave me worse," he joked, then added in a whisper, "sorry for not being there."

Remi gave an awkward shrug, "everyone makes mistakes, I guess."

Colt clapped him on the shoulder and Remi then turned to see Lucille watching him with pride beaming from her face, making him wonder how could he possibly live without this woman? He went back to her and Lucille welcomed him into her arms, she kissed him deeply and on her mouth he tasted her fear and her immense relief. She pulled back smiling happily.

"Come, there's someone I want you to meet."

Remi smiled but dreaded seeing the son of his captor, Remi walked into his room and gasped, by their bed was a large white crib.

"I thought it was going to be a boy, not a baby!" Remi murmured advancing slowly to it.

"So did I," Lucille murmured, a pretty smile lighting her face, Remi looked in and saw a tiny baby wrapped up in a blue blanket, it was squashed looking and had lots of black hair. Lucille stood behind him and ran her hands up his back, settling them at his shoulders and beginning a nice massage that made him feel sleepy. Remi stepped out of her hold and led her towards the bed, he turned to her his face serious, he could see himself reflected in her eyes and she looked worried.

"I believe that Manuel's father may have one of the Arcadians that imprisoned me," he blurted out abruptly, Lucille paled with surprise.

"What?"

"I recognised one of the men who caught me earlier," Remi explained, "they didn't even remember me; they captured me again because they wanted the boy."

Remi nodded to Manuel's cot, "he is the son of my captor."

Lucille sat down hard on the bed and looked up at Remi stunned, "but this … this is too ironic," she blurted out with the same bluntness he had used. "Remi, the odds of that happening. I mean, me meeting you and Janet meeting Dimitri, and him doing that to you and now us looking after his son. That's Shakespeare, Remi, not real life!"

Lucille ended her rambling desperately and Remi had the urge to laugh, he knelt in front of her and brushed her hair back, cupping her precious face.

"Since when were werewolves part of reality?" he reasoned and saw her hopeful explanation crumble in her mind, "the impossible is my world, and has now become your world. Freaky, huh?"

Lucille laughed and drew him to her, liking the feeling of him pressed solidly against her, "are we still in danger?" she asked, Remi thought how best to answer her.

"From them no," he said, "but there will always be danger."

Lucille looked sad for a moment then sighed wistfully, "I guess I'm going to have to learn how to fight," she muttered and Remi laughed, Lucille smiled but became serious once more.

"How is this going to work?" Lucille nodded to Manuel and Remi shrugged with a nonchalance he didn't feel, inside his stomach clenched.

"We'll work it out," was all he said and Lucille scrutinised his face for a few long moments before nodding.

"Yeah," she agreed, "we will."

* * *

Remi heard it again, that God awful squalling from the next room, it had had Lucille up five times already and still it wanted more. It was torture, he couldn't stand it, it was like nails being drilled into his head, Remi looked at his mate sleeping soundly out of pure exhaustion beside him. Neither of them had realised how much work a baby would be, but why did the fates land them with the noisiest one? The stopped for a moment and Remi went completely still, barely daring to hope …

_No! _

It had started again and Remi didn't have the heart to wake Lucille, he flashed into human form and got up, and walked into the next room through the connecting door, in nothing but his boxers. He advanced on the crib and looked in; he saw its squashed, red face screaming its lungs out. Remi wasn't sure it was natural for something that small to produce a sound that horrid and large. The squalling continued and Remi began to feel desperate, "what do you want?" Remi demanded of the speechless babe.

He rubbed his hands over his face and could think of nothing else, though he had avoided it for the week the baby had been there, Remi reached in and carefully picked the little bastard up. Just the way he'd seen Lucille handle the fragile little thing with such care, Remi did the same, fearing that his huge hands would harm the baby in some way. Remi picked up one of the bottles Lucille had prepared an hour or so ago and Remi heated it until a reasonable temperature with his powers. He remembered to test the stuff on his skin and found it just right, then he sat down in the rocking chair thanking Artemis he wasn't a complete novice at handling young, though to be fair they were never human young. The baby accepted the bottle eagerly and Remi unconsciously began to rock the chair, he stared down at Manuel and grimaced.

"You're not the prettiest little bugger I've ever seen," he murmured, "you certainly don't take after your auntie. Though she thinks you're adorable."

Remi said no more to the child until it was finished with the bottle; Remi grimaced as he burped the baby and winced when he saw the milky sick come up onto the towel.

"Humans are disgusting," he said, "with the exception of your aunt."

Remi was laid the baby back in its crib and as soon as its head touched the pillow it started bawling again, Remi wanted to throw things.

"What more do you want?" he demanded and the baby cried louder making him feel guilty, Remi stared down at it. "Stop crying or you'll make yourself sick!"

Still it cried and Remi couldn't help feeling unwilling to aid the poor creature, "I should hate you really," Remi muttered acidly, "what your kind did to me. What you'll grow up to be. You should have been left in the orphanage."

The crying became desperate and fearful to Remi's mind as if the baby knew exactly what Remi was saying, it brought a strange lump to his throat. Remi leant down immediately and picked Manuel up, he shushed him a bit and the baby miraculously quietened down. Remi shook his head in disbelief, staring at the face he sighed, reprimanding himself for being so cruel … that was how this whole bloody war started, hating someone for something they had no right being hated for.

"If I don't protect you who will?" Remi whispered to the now silently sleeping baby, the baby yawned widely in his sleep, his fingers unfurling and grasping, Remi ran his finger over the tiny fist. He had to admit that Manuel was rather cute albeit in an ugly frog-fish way.

Remi looked at the clock and debated whether he could safely lay the baby down; he eyed the cot ominously and decided against it, he didn't think he could take anymore of that crying. He simply rocked the child all night, falling into a tired stupor with Manuel tucked carefully and safely in his arms. When Lucille rose the next morning, she peered into the nursery and bit back a laugh, there wasn't a more adorable sight in the whole world, she came forward quietly as not to wake the baby. Remi looked up at Lucille and blinked too tired to think properly, she smiled and kissed him lightly on the corner of his mouth.

"Morning," she murmured and Remi allowed Manuel to be lifted from him, he got up and heard his back click.

"Morning," he groused, frowning as Lucille tried not to laugh at him. "He cried all night," Remi informed her contemptuously, "every time you put him down he wants picking up again, or changing, or feeding. It's like taking care of …"

"A baby?" Lucille suggested drolly, Remi grumbled and Lucille shook her head at him, "go back to bed, love. You look dead on your feet."

Remi nodded but lingered as Lucille was about to lay Manuel down in his cot again, Remi shot to her side.

"No, he doesn't like that, he reacts better to the carry basket thing," Remi informed her, taking Manuel from her arms and placing him in it carefully, Remi pulled back thoughtfully, "He'll likely start crying in the minute. I think he actually knows when someone isn't in the room with him."

Remi made a thinking noise then said, "perhaps we should move him into our room until he's a little bit older?"

Lucille gave him a special look and Remi groaned, "What?" Lucille asked softly, looking at Remi with her heart in her eyes.

"You're giving me that look," Remi told her, involuntarily leaning down to stroke the hair on Manuel's head. "I know whenever you give me a look like that I'm acting like a woman."

Lucille moved closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, placing a whisper of a kiss on his bare chest, Remi shivered.

"I would not give up loving you for the world," she murmured, staring up into his eyes, "you are so brave, Remi."

"Not as brave as you," he said thickly, sweeping her tousled hair from her face, he rubbed his thumb across her jaw line lovingly. Lucille rolled her eyes trying to be flippant even though his words brought tears to them; she gave his firm ass a playful slap and nodded towards the door of their room.

"You need rest," Lucille admonished and Remi shrugged, but Lucille stilled his protests by placing her palm against his cheek. "I'll be here when you wake."

"Will you?"

"Always."

Remi placed a kiss on her forehead and spared an affectionate caress for Manuel then left for a long deserved sleep, but he paused and turned at the door. The sight that greeted him made his heart ache; there was his family, the sharer of his soul, the keeper of his heart. The person who had been so far inside of him, a place where no one else had ever been allowed to venture, and still wished to share her life with him.

"Lucille?" Remi called to her hoarsely from where he stood, gripping the door jamb to try and stave of the wave of very girly emotions threatening to consume him. She looked back over her shoulder, the light of golden dawn spreading a blanket of bronze across her hair; she had become his sunrise, his new beginning. And so had the kid, Remi thought to himself with an ironic inward chuckle. He gave her a one sided smirk that usually meant trouble and Lucille raised her eyebrow in question. "Remember … wherever you go today, and whatever you do, you take my heart with you …"

Lucille waited for him to add the last bit, the bit he always said to her, the bit that broke her own heart: _be careful with it._

But Remi didn't. He simply let his smile soften and moved into the room gently shutting the door; Lucille didn't cry or sniffle but simply gave her chest, which had given a flip flop motion, a gentle pat. Safe and happy was she in the knowledge that Remi trusted her implicitly with the most fragile thing, the _only _fragile thing about him; his heart.

Lucille cooed to Manuel as he yawned widely in his sleep, she stared off into the early rising sun and sighed, her life hadn't even begun yet, there might not be a lane made of gold and pretty sunsets in her future but Lucille, who had been afraid all her life was willing to risk it all to stay where she was right now. In a safe home with a family of rough and tumble alpha males and one kick-ass alpha female, with the fierce and the brave, in a world of war and honour and blood. In a room with her sweet nephew who she already thought of as her own, the last tie to her beloved scarred sister, next door to a man who would take any life and give his own just to keep her safe. It might be too much for some women, and it might not be enough for others, but Lucille did not feel as if she would lack for the only things she had wanted, love, friendship and safety.


	19. Chapter 19

_A year or so later … _

Colt sat at the dining table reading the sports page as he shovelled cheerios into his mouth from a dish the size of a fruit bowl, the door opened and Lucille came in.

"Hey," she greeted him and placed a sisterly kiss on his cheek that he accepted as so natural he barely drew his eyes away from the page.

"Hey," Colt murmured back, "you're up late."

"Manuel was up last night," she explained, pouring orange juice, "he's teething, so Remi says."

"Well, a renowned paediatrician like him would know, right?" Colt murmured in such a monotone that had Lucille not been listening attentively, as she always did to people, she would not have noticed the absolute sarcasm of the statement. Colt laughed when a towel landed over his head, he ripped it off and glanced at her, she looked like she was making Remi breakfast.

_Lucky bastard! _Colt thought enviously looking at the bacon.

"Want some?" Lucille asked, looking over her shoulder, Colt's stomach growled.

"I can't," he said contemptuously, "I'm on a diet."

He said it as if he was telling her someone had ordered him to eat pig shit for the rest of his life.

"Why?" Lucille laughed; there wasn't an ounce of extra fat anywhere on the guy.

"Dev said I looked a bit porky."

"You're listening to Dev?" Lucille said in disbelief and Colt chose not to answer but remained in moody silence, Lucille lowered a plate of beautiful, succulent crispy bacon in front of him and wafted the smell towards him, he began to salivate.

"You know, its funny, those were the exact words Sera used on Dev when she put him on a diet."

Colt let her words sink in and then he gave her a shifty smile, Lucille placed the plate in front of him and sat opposite.

"You want some?" Colt offered, with a streak of bacon hanging from his lip, Lucille shook her head.

"I did want to ask you something though, since your mood has improved," Lucille began in a hopeful kind of voice.

"Grease and fat always helps improve my mood," Colt managed to get out around a mouthful.

"Well, Remi and I decided to bond with one another -"

"I know."

"Who told you?" Lucille said shocked, it had only happened last night.

"No one," Colt scoffed, "the walls in this house are thick but they aren't that thick. Plaster was coming off the ceiling in my room."

Lucille made to take the plate from him but Colt grabbed it and hugged it to him, not mindful of smearing grease all over his shirt.

"I'm sorry," he whined.

"Well," Lucille continued with red cheeks, "Remi and I were thinking. We believe bonding is the right thing to do for us, but the danger of the were-hunter world is very unpredictable …"

Colt stopped eating and looked at Lucille who was staring at him earnestly.

"We've decided to draw up a will I the event of our deaths, like my sister did and we want to leave joint custody of Manuel with Dev and yourself."

Colt was silent and Lucille looked inquiringly at him, "how would you feel about that?"

"Of course I will look after him," Colt said quietly, "it's not a choice, Lucille."

"Well, no," Lucille responded worriedly, "its not. Not really. I mean, Manuel is my blood relative and he has no actual tie to this family, should something happen to Remi and myself -" Lucille surreptitiously touched the wood of her chair, "no one is under any obligation to keep him."

"Yes, they are, Lucille," Colt corrected her, "you are Remi's life, you were since the moment you walked into it. And what matters to you matters to Remi."

Colt pierced her with a stare so sombre that Lucille felt chills on her skin, "I failed him once, be damned if I could live with doing it again."

Lucille smiled gratefully, "I knew I always liked you," she said kindly and held out her hand which Colt took and placed a quick kiss on it.

"For the love of a sister," he murmured so low that Lucille didn't catch it, Lucille blinked and the moment was broken, Colt pulled back.

"Plus," Colt continued casually, stuffing food into his mouth like he had just broken a month long fast. "Remi actually thinks Manuel is his son now, so not much we could do if you to kicked the bucket."

Lucille laughed at the truth of those words; she couldn't believe how Manuel had taken to Remi and how protective Remi was of Manuel. Like a proud father Remi showed his son off at every occasion and Remi was the only one, apart from Lucille, who could calm Manny down when he was fussy.

"I even heard the schmuck singing lullaby's a few nights ago, I thought I was going mad. Remi singing lullaby's - it's unnatural."

Lucille laughed and was about to say something when Remi came sauntering into the room with the baby on his hip. Lucille opened her arms to accept Manuel but the baby clung to his papa bear, Lucille laughed and exchanged a look with Colt.

"Hello Mary Poppins," Colt said in a dry, monotone way and was all the funnier for it, "my, my, you've grown a beard over the years."

"Shut up!" Remi muttered, he kissed Lucille's shoulder absently as he reached across for a piece of bacon, devouring it he then popped himself up on the counter and placed Manny on his lap.

"Was he okay when you bathed him?" Lucille asked anxiously.

"Yeah, the diaper rash is clearing up just fine, thanks to Carson."

Colt rolled his eyes and got up from the table dropping the plate in the sink, "excuse me, if I choose not to eat while you talk about this."

Remi stuck his foot out; blocking Colt's passage, Colt raised looked up at him.

"Did Lucille ask you?" Remi inquired briskly.

"Yeah and I accepted the honour of being Manuel's guardian, because uncle Colt is nice like that," Colt said in a stupid, high voice and blew a raspberry on Manny's neck, Manny laughed hard and he clapped Remi on the shoulder, again turning to leave.

"Did we tell you he said his first word this morning?" Lucille asked, Colt turned at the door, to see her standing between Remi's knees, stroking Manny's soft head.

"Oh yeah?" Colt said, highly amused that Remi was so into playing family man, "if it was a swear word I take full responsibility of that honour."

Lucille tried to frown at him but her lips twitched, Remi laughed outright a gleam of pure happiness in the bear's eyes.

"No," Remi informed him delightedly, "it was 'Papa'."

**The End.**


	20. For The Reader

Hi Readers,

For anyone who has ever reviewed my fan fictions, you must know that I like to write back a short reply of thanks.

This message, however, goes out to one specific reviewer, who I unfortunately cannot reply to because they were simply "Guest".

"Guest" reviewer wrote the last three reviews for Remi's fan fiction and noted a number of faults and flaws with the plot line, details, etc.

I want to say a big thank you to "Guest" and acknowledge that I know this to be a hurried, poorly written mess. Your review more then anything else has made me determined to set it right, so I will be re-writing Remi's fanfic.

I hope the "Guest" that wrote said reviews sees this and will continue to leave comments like that because it is only through constructive criticism that improvement can be achieved.

Thanks,

DazedInReality

xxxx


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